VCU researchers are partnering with Richmond Public Schools to boost outcomes for multilingual students

By Sian Wilkerson

Over the past eight years, the multilingual student population in Richmond Public Schools has nearly doubled, now representing nearly one-fifth of total enrollment. But with that segment's graduation rate lagging - 59%, compared with 80% for all students - researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University are teaming up with local educators to improve those educational outcomes.

Two focal points: the middle school years and family engagement in education.

Supported by a three-year, $650,000 award from the William T. Grant Foundation, the new research-practice partnership is a joint effort between VCU's Institute for Collaborative Research Evaluation, part of the School of Education, the College of Humanities and Sciences and Richmond Public Schools.

Together, educators, researchers and multilingual families across three Richmond middle schools will work to identify and test strategies designed to support pathways to postsecondary success for multilingual learners.

"The middle school years are a particularly important window, in that decisions made then about coursework and engagement often shape what is possible later," said Jesse Senechal, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Education and executive director of the Institute for Collaborative Research Evaluation.

Central to the project is family engagement, Senechal said - specifically, "by building the kind of trust and belonging that helps multilingual families become active participants in their children's education."

Pointing to the progress already made by the division to improve multilingual graduation rates, which have risen significantly in recent years, Senechal said the partnership is "designed to build on that momentum."

The Grant Foundation's award is among its four Institutional Challenge Grants this year in partnership with the Annie E. Casey, Bezos Family, Doris Duke and Spencer foundations. The grant supports collaborative work between university-based research institutes, schools and centers, and public agencies or nonprofit organizations that will seek to reduce inequality in youth outcomes.

In addition to Senechal, the grant's principal investigator, the VCU team includes co-PIs and research fellows Hillary Parkhouse, Ph.D., an associate professor in the School of Education, and Chelsea Williams, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences. They are working alongside a Richmond Public Schools team that includes co-PI Danielle Greene-Bell, Ph.D., chief engagement officer, and Victoria Gochez, ombudsman for students and families.

Preliminary work on the project was supported by the VCU Division of Community Engagement through an Academic Community Partnership Planning Grant. The project also builds on a framework developed through a VCU Breakthroughs grant merging insights from developmental psychology and education to create more culturally affirming approaches to family engagement with Black and Latino families.

"Studies and experience show that students whose families are involved in their learning earn better grades, enroll in higher-level programs, have higher graduation rates and are more likely to enroll in postsecondary education," Greene-Bell said. "Working with VCU provides RPS with the opportunity to marry research with practice, to the benefit of our scholars. As such, as we seek to meaningfully impact our multilingual learners, family engagement must be the north star of our efforts."

Parents and caregivers "are their child's first champion," Gochez said. "This grant provides the opportunity for us to co-design with multilingual families a new model of authentic and sustainable partnership that honors multilingual parents and caregivers' lived experiences and expertise, working together to transform student success outcomes."

Strategies developed through the project will focus on areas such as school-based belonging practices for multilingual families, increasing communication between schools and families in home languages and connecting families to information about advanced coursework and postsecondary pathways.

"By honoring the expertise and knowledge that caregivers have, and building their sense of belonging and agency, we are not only supporting students, but hope to create a larger, connected ecological system that promotes success for multilingual youth and families," Williams said. "I am excited about this grant because it brings together families, educators, staff and researchers - it is designed as a true partnership so that everyone has a seat at the table."

In addition to the immediate goal of better outcomes for Richmond's multilingual children and youth, the longer-term goal is to continue to build the partnership between VCU and Richmond Public Schools.

"At VCU, we also see this as an opportunity to build the infrastructure that makes collaborative and community-engaged research sustainable," Senechal said.