Local Partnerships

All Stars Partners with Rutgers GSE

Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) is partnering with the All Stars Project Inc. to enhance research and initiatives dedicated to afterschool programing.  For the past 30 years, All Stars has opened afterschool developmental programs for youth living in urban areas across the country.  Now, with the help of the GSE, All Stars will work to establish a professional field of developmental afterschool and promote research in that field as a cornerstone of a new innovative approach to addressing poverty and youth development issues in urban communities throughout the United States.  Learn more by contacting Dr. Carrie Lobman at carrie.lobman@gse.rutgers.edu.

The Conversation Tree
Community-Based Language Partnerships

The Conversation Tree: Community-Based Language Partnerships is a program created by Rutgers Graduate School of Education and The Collaborative Center for Community-Based Research and Service. Launched in Spring 2012, The Conversation Tree combines academic coursework with community-engaged learning opportunities. Rutgers students are prepared through coursework to be Conversation Facilitators with community-based organizations offering English as a Second-Language (ESL) services in New Brunswick. The Conversation Café model has been one outcome of this work. The Conversation Café is an informal conversation group for community members who are new to English. Participants from the community engage in one-on-one or small-
group conversations with English speakers discussing a variety of topics. In this safe setting, adult learners experience the spontaneity of real-world conversation while practicing English. Currently, The Conversation Tree also offers Professional Development Programs for community-based organizations, schools and districts interested in implementing the Conversation Cafe model.

Math and Science Story Time (MASST) Series: Bringing Math and Science to Life through Reading and Hands-on Explorations for Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers and Their Families

MASST is a bilingual (primarily Spanish) informal early education program for children ages 3-5 years and their families. The program uses engaging, integrative, research-based approaches to increase access to high-quality math and science content for the Spanish-speaking community. MASST was developed by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers and is linked to the New Jersey’s Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards (2014). Each summer since 2012, the New Brunswick Free Public Library (NBFPL) has implemented the program in collaboration with NIEER. Data collected on program effectiveness have shown that MASST can increase children’s knowledge of key math and science content, provide families with new ideas of related activities to do and books to read with their children, increase community awareness of and participation in library programs for young children, enhance the library’s resources, and provide NIEER with knowledge about effective transfer of resources and practices from school-based to community-based settings. Learn more by contacting the Principal Investigator, Dr. Alissa Lange at alange@nieer.org.