College of Education Holds First Annual Research to Practice Exchange Event Drawing Educators from LA & Orange County Districts
The College of Education held its first annual Research to Practice Exchange event in early May bringing together dozens of area educators, school district partners, friends of the College, CSULB faculty, and students for an afternoon of break-out sessions, conversations, mixing, and mingling. The goal of the event was to create a space for exchanging ideas about research and problems of practice and an opportunity to connect with educators from across Los Angeles and Orange County districts. Break-out sessions focused engagement on matters that directly address educator needs and facilitated collaborative discussion, open conversations, and shared research projects. Superintendents, administrators, and educators from El Monte Union High School District, Norwalk-La Mirada School District, Lynwood Unified School District, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Ocean View School District, and our local Long Beach Unified School District, were in attendance, among many others.
With three simultaneous breakout sessions led by College of Education faculty available, guests had the option to attend one, or drop into multiple sessions depending on their area of interest. Dr. Cathrine Maiorca facilitated a discussion on STEM education, which was co-led by Dr. Shuhua An, Dr. Stephen Adams, and Dr. Laura Henriques. Dr. Corinne Martinez, along with colleague Dr. Anna Ortiz led a session focusing on illuminating college and career pathways. The third session led by Dr. Kristi Hagans and Dr. Nat Hansuvadha presented information on capacity-building for Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).
With this first event a success and keen interest expressed from district partners, the Research to Practice Exchange will continue to bring educators together for conversations around current classroom topics year after year.
