Vassar Institute Signature Program Explores Partnerships Between Local Colleges, Agencies, and School Districts
Local colleges can and should do more to work with community-based agencies to address the educational inequities within local school districts. That was the theme of a recent two-day conference at The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts hosted by three current and one retired faculty member.
The program was titled “Promoting Partnerships to Advance Educational Justice in Poughkeepsie.” Participants included college officials from Vassar, Marist, and Dutchess Community colleges; representatives of the City of Poughkeepsie and Arlington school districts; local government leaders; and members of local not-for-profit agencies. “Our goals for the weekend were to break the silos that exist among higher education, local school districts, and community organizations and to collaborate as a group,” said Associate Professor of Political Science Taneisha Means. “We identified some issues that exist from various perspectives and developed conversations that will hopefully lead to collaborations.”
Other hosts of the conference were Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Andy Borum, Professor of Education Erin McCloskey, and Professor Emerita of Political Science Molly Shanley.
The event began with a keynote address and presentation by Karmen Smallwood, Assistant Commissioner for Youth Services, Dutchess County Department of Community & Family Services, who has already begun this work. She and her team of collaborators spearheaded the implementation of Boston College’s City Connect Initiative to identify and address factors contributing to challenges for City of Poughkeepsie students. “Our first step was to identify and analyze adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, and neglect, and instability in the home,” Smallwood said.
A total of 20,103 high school students completed a Youth Risk and Behavioral Assessment in 2023 conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Smallwood said. The results: 76.1% reported experiencing one or more at-risk ACEs, and 18.5% reported experiencing four or more ACEs. The most prevalent ACEs were emotional abuse (61.5%), physical abuse (31.8%), and household poor mental health (28.4%). Questions related to social media use, experiencing racism, and unfair discipline in school were also included in the assessment. Students who reported unfair discipline at school (compared to students who did not) were more likely to engage in various health risk behaviors (e.g., skipping school because of feeling unsafe, carrying a weapon onto school property, or attempting suicide).
Smallwood said the Boston College Initiative endeavors to address these issues by developing individual student support plans for all students to address their needs and interests. She added that school districts deal with numerous challenges and are not equipped to address all of these needs without support from community partners. “Boston College’s City Connects has shown how community-based resources can fill in the gaps and lead to higher attendance, and higher attendance leads to better academic performance, better performance on test scores, and lower dropout rates,” she said.
According to Smallwood, the group assembled at the conference should begin by identifying existing community-based assets, developing shared goals, formalizing agreements, and continually assessing the partnership development and sustainability process.
Borum said the informal conversations that occurred throughout the weekend were just as significant as the formal panel discussions. “Some of the best moments for me were the conversations that took place over lunch and the networking that resulted from those conversations,” he said.
McCloskey agreed. “Just getting to know each other was the important first step, and then following that up with deciding on ways to connect with each other,” she said. “Our next step will be to bring more students and their parents into the conversation, and we will continue to meet regularly to follow up on developing specific programs. All of the attendees were incredibly excited, and I look forward to the next steps in the process.”