Areas of Engagement
Teaching and Learning
The UCLA Community School was created to be a Teaching School, with a shared commitment to making practice public and modeling excellent teaching for the next generation of educators. Almost half of the faculty have served as mentor teachers for UCLA’s Teacher Education Program, many for several years. In 2023-24, 11 UCLA student teachers learned alongside these experienced mentor teachers. In addition, the many new teachers on the faculty received coaching and support from a variety of mentors.
Research-Practice Partnerships
The school continues to be an active site of research, with 12 studies (some ongoing) conducted in 2023-24, most framed as research-practice partnerships or RPPs: “long-term collaborations between practitioners and researchers that are organized to investigate problems of practice and solutions for improving schools and districts” (Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2013, p. 48; Quartz, et al., 2017).
The Research Accountability Committee, composed of members of the Governing School Council, approves and oversees these research- practice partnerships that aim to tackle collective problems in order to inform practice, ensure accountability, and share the wealth of our community knowledge.
Enrichment and Integrated Supports
We actively seek opportunities for students within and beyond the classroom that develop their identity, knowledge and passions and prepare them to be college and community-ready. Enrichment activities include art projects and residencies, learning exchanges with college students and faculty at UCLA and leadership opportunities in the community.
The integrated network and system of supports are built to provide the environment for students and their families to thrive and grow.
