Academic Program Review Report:
Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban
Educational Excellence
College of Education
Approved for Fact-Check by APRC May 12, 2006
Approved by APRC June 1, 2006
Approved by CAP June 28, 2006
The Alonzo Crim Center
The Crim Center was established in 1996. Created to provide a “city-wide laboratory for
the development of excellence in urban education,” the Crim Center is now housed in the
Office of the Dean, College of Education. It was originally housed in the COE’s
Department of Educational Policy Studies. Administrative support is provided by the
Office of the Dean. The Center has been a part of the College’s budget for four years,
and 100% of its operating budget is provided by Fund Code 10. The Center’s total
budget for FY 2006 is about $139K. Georgia State University has provided facilities and
space for some projects. The Director of the Center (Dr. Gwen Benson) reports directly
to the Dean of College of Education. The Center employs an Associate Director, a
Business Manager and three Graduate Research Assistants I (1.5 appointments). The
Crim Center has a Board of Directors composed of departmental and COE center
representatives. Self-identified faculty members are also affiliated with the Center based
on their “interests in service and/or research in urban schools and communities.”
The Crim Center is described as interdisciplinary. Projects housed in the Center
involve faculty from all COE departments and a number of departments in the College of
Arts and Sciences. A central goal of the Center is to “bring together faculty who are
interested in conducting research and provide services to schools in urban school
systems.” Many of the RFP’s to which the Center responds require interdisciplinary
resources. A grant from the United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation provided much of
the Center’s early funding. At that time, the Center also received an Annenberg
Foundation grant involving a collaborative effort between several school districts and
universities designed to create schools that “provided excellent education for low-income
African-American children.”
The stated mission of the Crim Center is “ensure the availability of a prosperous
and equitable school environment for children who are least served by urban schools by
developing educational leaders, scholarly theory, and innovative strategies with a
foundation built upon relevant knowledge and effective practice.” The COE’s Strategic
Plan calls for the transformation of the Crim Center into “a research center with
continuing outreach efforts.” The continuing goals of the Center are:
 Providing initiation, coordination and support for the funding of research projects
on the individual, group and interdepartmental levels.
 Serving as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of scholarly information and the
provision of technical assistance by a bank of experts.
 Securing and expanding sponsorship of the Crim Center.
 Hosting a biennial conference focusing on issues related to students and urban
education.
The Center’s performance is measured in terms of the outcomes achieved in relation to
the goals listed above.
The Crim Center and the COE have attracted external funding for important
service-teaching programs focused on urban schools and urban education in amounts
exceeding $10 million. These programs are aligned with and advance the service
elements of the university’s strategic plan. Currently, the Center has eight
projects/programs underway. These are: (1) urban teacher leadership, (2) Benjamin
Mays Lecture Series, (3) Jumpstart, (4) Professional Development Schools, (5) Atlanta
Housing Authority Project, (6) DREAMS, (7) Turner Teacher Scholars, and (7) MLK
Curriculum Project. Over the past three academic years, the Center reports 26 funded
projects, 7 of which are described as having a research component. The others are
largely a combination of teaching and service activities.
Observations
1. The Crim Center appears to have achieved its goal of attracting significant
external funding for teaching and service activities related to urban schools and
urban education. The Center report provides strong evidence of a major
commitment to and investment in community service. It is clear that its energies
have been invested in making important service-teaching contributions that are
attractive to and supported by external sources, but there is little evidence in its
report to suggest that this success has been paralleled on the research side.
2. In terms of the COE’s strategic commitment to research, the extent to which
significant external funding for scholarly and applied research has been attracted
is at best unclear and the Crim Center’s report suggests that its success to date in
this area has been minimal. The Center’s report lists only two book chapters and
two dissertations as publications that have resulted from the Center’s research
activities in the past three years.
3. The Center’s report lists no faculty members other than the Director and
Associate Director as being funded by the Center for the prior fiscal year. There
is no indication of any faculty having received course releases or summer pay
from external grants or contracts. The Principal Investigator for Center projects is
consistently listed as the Director and/or Associate Director. This suggests that the
Center is not funding COE faculty and/or faculty from other schools and
departments through its portfolio of externally funded projects. (See addendum
provided by the Crim Center below.)
4.
As noted in the report, the Center has not succeeded in securing long-term
sponsorship from external sources.
5. Crim is perceived by COE tenure track faculty as a service activity despite
ongoing efforts to refocus its agenda on research.
6. The Center’s report offers little evidence of significant efforts or investments
designed to refocus its goals and efforts to secure external funding for major basic
and applied research projects.
Recommendations
1. The COE may want to revisit its plan to transform the Alonzo Crim Center into a
research center in light of its apparent success and value as a service center. If it
does not, then the following recommendations should be implemented.
2. The Center, in light of its currently stated mission and research center goal,
should take steps designed to greatly increase its research-based publication and
reports output.
3. The Center should seek funding for basic and applied research that includes
budget lines for course releases, summer buyouts, and other forms of support for
research-oriented activities by faculty from COE and other colleges. This kind of
support is necessary if the Center is to achieve its goal of being a genuine research
center. This is also a critically important means of achieving long-term faculty
“buy-in” and establishing a meaningful link between participation in Center
projects and the promotion and tenure criteria of the colleges and university.
4. The Center should take steps designed to build its reputation as place where
quality research is designed, executed, and disseminated widely. This should
include support for the production of refereed publications, conference papers,
and dissertations of scholarly note.
Addendum Provided 5-26-06
Addendum to Academic Program Review Report:
Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence
Below is evidence that research-based products are emanating from the external funding
that has been attracted to the Alonzo A. Crim Center.
Professional Development Schools: Professional Development Schools (PDSs) are
partnerships that offer opportunities for Georgia State University and pre K- 12 schools
to join together to foster the evolution of unique sites where school and university have
the shared goal of enhancing the education of professionals through a serious
commitment to collaboration. PDS partnerships have a four-fold mission:




the preparation of new teachers,
faculty development,
inquiry directed at the improvement of practice, and
enhanced student achievement
Georgia State University faculty involved in research funded by the PDS grant:
Faculty
Department
Susan Swars
ECE
Amy Slack
MSIT
Julie Dangel
ECE
Dana Fox
MSIT
Stephanie Smith
ECE
Susan McClendon
CUEE
Valerie Miller
Math (College of Arts and Sciences)
Mary Deming
MSIT
Brendan Calandra
MSIT
Bill Curlette
EPS
Laurie Dias
MSIT
Melody Milbrandt
Music
George McMahon
EPSE
PRISM (Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics) is a National Science
Foundation (NSF) funded program that aims to improve statewide achievement in
science and mathematics. It is a comprehensive program created to ensure that
elementary, middle and high school students are taught science and mathematics by
highly qualified, diverse teachers and to develop a statewide “best practices” approach to
teaching and learning science and mathematics. The program aims to create
collaborations between classroom teachers and science and mathematics faculty at
Georgia State University.
Georgia State University faculty involved in research funded by PRISM:
Faculty
Department
Christine Thomas
Nadia Hanna
Lynn Hart
Kathryn Kozaitis
Valerie Miller
Olga Jarrett
Becky Patterson
Draga Vidakovic
15 Graduate Research Assistants
MSIT
MSIT
ECE
Anthropology (College of Arts & Sciences)
Math (College of Arts & Sciences)
ECE
MSIT
Math (College of Arts & Sciences)
Early College at the New Schools of Carver-Atlanta Public Schools
National studies show that students perform better in smaller, more personalized settings;
therefore each school is designed as an independent school that offers students the
opportunity to attend a high school that matches their interests and allows them to make
real-world career connections. The new campus at Carver includes five individual high
schools that will prepare graduates for success in the 21st century by having a rigorous
academic program, state-of-the-art facilities and dynamic community partnerships.
Early College at the New Schools of Carver is a collaboration between Atlanta Public
Schools, Georgia State University and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Students
enrolled in Early College have the opportunity to graduate from high school with 60
hours of college credit. All students, at a minimum, sample college-level courses through
advanced placement courses or a dual enrollment program.
Georgia State University faculty involved in research funded by Early College:
Faculty
Department
Mary Deming
MSIT
Kim White
EPS