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Valuing Complexity in Education-Community Partnerships: SROI as Measurement Framework for Learning Ecosystems

Ricket, Allison L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1657547038349744

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, Educational Administration (Education).
In Appalachian Ohio, a grassroots group of citizens across industry sectors have convened to use community assets to create solutions impacting multiple parts of the community system, thus attempting to solve complex rural problems in innovative ways. One intermediary organization, Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C), has implemented community and career connected learning programs as a way to solve problems threatening rural community viability through engaging multiple community stakeholders including the community’s youth. Using an exploratory mixed-methods approach, this study investigated the contributions of stakeholders and the impact to community systems of one community and career connected learning program: high school internships. This study conceptualizes the place-based, cross-sector, bidirectional interactions facilitated by community and career connected learning as a learning ecosystem. Further, this study uses Social Return on Investment (SROI) to quantify impact within the learning ecosystem to communicate and maximize change. This study found for every $1 invested in high school internships, between $13.07–$15.37 of value to social and economic systems is created. The ability to explore career fields through experience in order to eliminate career paths not of interest to them and then to be able to clearly define next steps in career paths that were of interest to them were outcomes valued most by students as stakeholders. Host site stakeholders reported the most valuable impacts to economic and social systems were, respectively, development of a workforce with basic skills and the personal satisfaction of being able to watch a young person in their community grow and develop through the internship period and beyond. For community supporting stakeholders, the most valuable impacts were the increased connection between schools and businesses in the community as well as the potential to reduce outmigration. Repeatedly, participants drew attention to long- term impacts of their contributions to the learning ecosystem as “an investment in the future” of the community, a perspective which matches this study’s SROI measurement framework.
Charles Lowery (Advisor)
Jacqueline Yahn (Committee Member)
Lesli Johnson (Committee Member)
Dwan Robinson (Committee Member)
Emmanuel Jean-Francois (Committee Member)
Tasha Werry (Committee Member)
316 p.
Education; Educational Leadership
high school; internships; post secondary; career exploration; SROI; community-school partnerships; career planning; real-world application; secondary education; business-education partnerships; workforce development; positive youth development; holistic education; mixed-methods; community and career connected learning; learning ecosystems

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ricket, A. L. (2022). Valuing Complexity in Education-Community Partnerships: SROI as Measurement Framework for Learning Ecosystems [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1657547038349744

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ricket, Allison. Valuing Complexity in Education-Community Partnerships: SROI as Measurement Framework for Learning Ecosystems. 2022. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1657547038349744.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ricket, Allison. "Valuing Complexity in Education-Community Partnerships: SROI as Measurement Framework for Learning Ecosystems." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1657547038349744

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1657547038349744
731
© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.