While it is widely agreed that higher education contributes to the public dimensions of society, the public benefits of higher education are untheorized, poorly defined and not readily measured. As a result, higher education tends to be undervalued and under-financed. This project takes a comparative approach to considering this tension, using contrasting case studies from ten countries around the world. The project is coordinated by colleagues at the University of Oxford (UK). The Center for International Higher Education is responsible for conducting the US case study and for contributing to the overall comparative analysis.
The onset of COVID-19 brought myriad challenges to educational systems and the students they serve. Our study set out to explore specifically how the pandemic influenced students’ college-going processes. Using the conceptual model of student college choice by Perna (2006) and the school counseling equity framework by Savitz-Romer and Nicola (2021), we examined students’ college-going processes through the perspectives of school counselors, who are professionals uniquely positioned to speak to students’ college-planning behaviors and the institutional changes that directly affect students. Findings suggest that students’ college-going and planning was directly compromised by challenges from the pandemic and indirectly by changes in their college access support landscape.
Following three early-career urban school leaders from charter schools, district public schools and Catholic schools this study examined the practices of these leaders as they mobilized faculty, engaged students and families, and enriched their own professional efficacy through the Academy. In consequence, this long-term study illuminates how these urban school educators sought to promote educational equity in their schools, drawing on their work with the Lynch Leadership Academy to help them do so.
The Formative Leadership Education Project was recently awarded a grant from the Kern Family Foundation entitled "Expanding the Reach of Formative Leadership Education by Building Communities of Practice." This funds the facilitation of the Kern Partners for Character and Educational Leadership (KPCEL) network. KPCEL is a nation-wide network of institutions in the process of implementing character education initiatives. As a starting point, the Lynch School will organize and host a Summer Institute in 2022 to bring these partners together into productive dialogue. Throughout 2022-2025, we will facilitate a series of working groups and professional learning communities across the network to support the work of our partners from inquiry to implementation.
Project DetailsThis project aims to better understand Urban Catholic Teacher Corps members' perceptions of leading a life with meaning and purpose. To our knowledge, this research program is the first intended to provide documentation and measurement of purpose and meaning in the lives of educators, in particular in urban Catholic schools.
Project DetailsMotivated by growing concerns about inadequate support for students' mental health and postsecondary transitions due to challenges brought on during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study captures school counselors' experiences during the crisis, including what they are learning about students' needs and the opportunities and constraints facing their practice.