It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
-- Ursula K. Le Guin

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Social Capital and Technology Integration Study Do you believe that technology has untapped potential for improving education? Do you believe that one of the best ways for teachers to learn to integrate technology effectively is to collaborate and learn from one another? Is your school located in the greater San Francisco Bay Area or in Southern California? Yes, yes, and yes? Read on! TICAL and SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning invite you to join in an exciting research project focused on the usefulness of social network analysis as a way to: Measure the likely success of school reform efforts in their early stages, before changes in student achievement become apparent. Identify opportunities for improvement and course adjustment in the early stages of implementation. Assist in acculturating new staff and maintaining a collaborative culture in the face of high teacher turnover. Capture new data for use in school improvement decision-making. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, our research aims to: Demonstrate practical techniques for measuring the social capital of a school professional staff. Develop criteria for diagnostic tools useful to school leaders. Develop "images" of changes in social networks as innovations take hold. Test the relationship among three variables: the preexisting, general capacity of a school staff; its members' participation in social networks; and subsequent changes in teaching practice. We assume that: Schools where teachers interact with one another around practice have a greater capacity to innovate. Interaction around innovation is an indicator of acceptance and inclination to adopt. Having clear, accurate, and easily interpretable measures of a staff's social capital would be useful to school leaders. What's involved? We have funding to partner with up to 20 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California that are trying to create a climate of collaboration around their technology integration efforts. We seek schools that share our beliefs and assumptions about whole-school change and are interested in exploring the value of a social network analysis. 2003-2004: Feasibility Study During the first year, we'll investigate issues associated with conducting social network analysis in schools through interviews with the principal and four teachers at each partner school. Our goals at this stage are: To understand the expectations and assumptions of school leaders about the value of a social capital approach in attempting to improve a school's capacity for innovation; To determine the types of questions that can balance teacher privacy with efforts to understand the learning community; And to identify the best strategies for examining the link between the results of social network analysis and classroom practices. From the schools interviewed in year 1, we will select a smaller number of schools to continue for years 2 and 3 of the research. 2004-2005: Social Network Analysis In the second year, we will conduct social network analyses in participating schools and develop visualizations to represent what we learn. Accomplishing this will involve: A 20-minute questionnaire completed by teaching staff that asks questions about the frequency of interaction around professional topics with teaching peers. An interview and 8 classroom visits with 4 teachers to help understand the impact of teacher learning communities on teaching. A follow-up principal interview. 2005-2006: Utility and Representations Year three will examine the usefulness of social network analysis, and different ways of representing this data, to principals and other school leaders responsible for guiding technology integration efforts. As in year one, this will involve an interview with the principal and four teachers at each partner school. Incentives for Partner Schools We hope that the outcome and potential for practical application of this research will be the major incentive for participation, but we will also provide some compensation for the extra time that is involved in participation: 2003-2004 $60 for each teacher who participates in a 30-45 minute interview $100 for each principal or other school leader who participates in an hour-long interview 2004-2005 $300 for each teacher who participates in an interview, completes a survey, and allows a researcher to observe his or her classroom 8 times during the year $100 for each principal or other school leader who participates in an hour-long interview 2005-2006 $60 for each teacher who participates in a 30-45 minute interview $100 for each principal or other school leader who participates in an hour-long interview $600-800 gift to each school that completes its participation. Ready to learn more? Michael Simkins, TICAL msimkins@portical.org 831.477.5501 Christine Korbak, SRI International socialcapital-info@firefly.ctl.sri.com 650.859.3205