Ecology of Educational Opportunities in Pittsburgh
Summary
This study examines how connections between the formal educational system and nonsystem actors such as informal education programs offered by museums and nonprofit organizations shape educational priorities and practices in the region. Prior educational research, including our own, has tended to look at the formal and informal worlds as separate educational systems. By mapping a regional education ecology we can look at issue, resource, and stakeholder inter-dependencies, and better understand the ways in which K-12 policy has ripple effects throughout the system. For example, Charter schools, home schooling, and the school improvement industry have begun to challenge our notions of what is a legitimate part of the K-12 system. Foundations play an important, though often invisible role, in shaping regional educational priorities. Through a set of strategically selected case studies of the relationship between the formal K12 system and informal education organizations, we will examine the following research questions: What connections between informal and formal education organizations currently exist and what are the opportunities for and barriers to robust collaboration? To what extent and how do the organizational structures and policies associated with the K-12 system shape the mission and practice of nonprofits/community based organizations? To what extent and how does the presence of nonprofits / informal education organizations shape the policies and practices in K-12 system?
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