Meet Krissy Bemister, a Research Project Manager leading GEEC’s Model Schools for Inner Cities Research Team. Krissy completed her Psychology B.A. degree in 2018. Her undergraduate thesis, along with her more recent Research Assistant experiences in two projects based out of OISE investigating reading interventions and full day kindergarten, solidified her passion for research methods and applications.
Krissy is now pursuing her M.A. in Psychology at Ryerson University, where she investigates face and emotion perception in infancy.
Krissy is enthused by the potential to contribute to real change at the ground level for children in marginalized communities through her work in the GEEC research group.
Krissy has also had practical experience working with children ages 3 to 18 in an educational program, as well as through her array of research experiences. She utilizes her research skills on the GEEC team and expands her knowledge about community-engaged research and qualitative methods.
This blog post is part of the School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of educational success and well-beingstudy. To learn more about the larger study, visit our projects.
When a school in a marginalized neighbourhood goes through a redesign, what social impacts does it have on students and school staff?
This timeline indicates the years when children were initially relocated to other schools and then later brought back to their newly redesigned school following completion.
From 2011 to 2012, we held focus groups and interviews with students (ages 4 to 13) and school staff (teachers and administrators).
The redesign of a school in a low socioeconomic neighbourhood in Toronto resulted in students and staff being moved to two other neighbourhood schools (feeder schools) while the focal school was under construction. Students shared their thoughts on the changing social dynamics amongst students and staff during this transitional period.
At the beginning of the transition, students spoke about an initial divide between the new students from the redesign school and those who were in the feeder schools. There were reports of bullying, spreading rumours, and physical fights. Another challenge mentioned was the lack of school space and changes to school activities and resources. RS students were blamed by some feeder school students for these challenges.
Some RS students felt more comfortable with school staff from their own school in comparison to the staff at the feeder schools. They said that they could trust the staff from the redesign school more, and also shared that they felt the school staff from the feeder school favoured the feeder school students more.
During the transition, many students said that they missed the redesign school, and wanted to return to graduate there. Others felt nervous that when they moved back, the original school would be completely different.
So just how does school redesign impact the social dynamics between students? There was tension between students when bringing the redesign school and feeder schools groups together. This was reported by both students and staff. Staff also noted that feeling a sense of ownership or identifying with the school was particularly important for the older students. This research can help inform other schools undergoing redesigns and renovations. Additional staff to better support students during transitions, such as psychologists or social workers, at the school could help students to adapt to the changes easier. Having activities that encourage connections between students, such as a buddy system, could help to ease the transition as well. Teachers incorporated themes of neighbourhood and school change into the school curriculum during the transition to help students adjust which is a helpful practice. Allowing for more time for students and teachers to adjust to the changes, build relationships with one another and get settled in the redesigned school may be beneficial.
Click here to read more about student and school staff perspectives on social dynamics during the school redesign.
See also: Patel, S., & Cummins, N. (2019). Student and staff social dynamics and transitions during school redesign. Improving Schools, 22(2), 158-172. doi: 10.1177/1365480219832415
To read more about the School Redesign and Neighbourhood Redevelopment: A longitudinal study of education success and well-being study, click here.
To learn more about social dynamics and transitions during school redesign, read our manuscript here.
Document citation: Patel, S. (2016). School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: Knowledge mobilization summary report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University.
This blog post is part of the School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of educational success and well-beingstudy. To learn more about the larger study, visit our projects.
What are the impacts of school redesign on school staff social dynamics?
Construction underway at the redesign school.
From 2011 to 2012, we held focus groups and interviews with students (ages 4 to 13) and school staff (teachers and administrators).
The redesign of a school in a low-socioeconomic neighbourhood in Toronto resulted in students and staff being moved to two other neighbourhood schools (feeder schools) while the school under construction (see timeline). School staff shared their thoughts on the changing social dynamics amongst staff and students during this transitional period.
This timeline indicates the years when children were initially relocated to other schools and then later brought back to the new redesigned school following completion.
Prior to transitioning to the feeder schools, some redesign school staff said that they felt rushed, explaining that they only had a short time to pack materials and move into the new school. Once in the feeder schools, redesign school staff said they found it challenging to adjust to new rules and routines in the feeder schools.
School staff highlighted that they had strong connections with their co-workers prior to moving, and some staff felt a division between the redesign school and the feeder school groups. However, other teachers felt that they had merged with the school staff quite well, and said that it was much easier for the teachers to get along than it was for students.
Many school staff noted that strong leadership was particularly important during this period of transition. School administrators can influence school climate and help model relationship building with new students and families.
School staff also wanted more opportunities for staff members to meet prior to the transitional period to establish a more cohesive teaching team and additional prep time to prepare for the move. Professional development focused on transitions that bring school staff together prior to school redesigns may provide an opportunity for teaching staff to build connections between schools and build educators’ capacity to support students during transitional periods.
Click here to read more about student and school staff perspectives on social dynamics during school redesign.
See also: Patel, S., & Cummins, N. (2019). Student and staff social dynamics and transitions during school redesign. Improving Schools, 22(2), 158-172. doi: 10.1177/1365480219832415
To read more about the School Redesign and Neighbourhood Redevelopment: A longitudinal study of education success and well-being study, click here.
To learn more about social dynamics and transitions during school redesign, read our manuscript here.
Document citation: Patel, S. (2016). School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: Knowledge mobilization summary report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University.
Dr. Sejal Patel of GEEC Research (left), and TDSB Research Coordinator Maria Yau present their research investigating the ‘mechanisms of change’ in the TDSB’s Model Schools for Inner Cities initiative.
Between April 5 and 9, over 15,000 educators and researchers met in Toronto for the 2019 American Educational Research Association annual meeting. This year’s theme was ‘Leveraging education research in a ‘post-truth era: Multimodal narratives to democratize evidence,’ with a focus on community and practice relevant research. Dr. Sejal Patel and Maria Yau, Research Coordinator, Research & Development, Toronto District School Board shared about the TDSB’s Model Schools in Inner Cities program and their study, Reducing Inequities in Children’s Education Success and Well-being in Marginalized Communities through Innovation in Education as a part of the Equity Innovation in Teaching and Learning session held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Hello there, we’re GEEC, the Greater Equity in Early Education and Care: Child, Family, and Community Engaged Research team. We are a research collaborative working with community partners to promote equity in learning and care for children through child, family, and community engaged research.
How does school redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment in marginalized communities affect children’s academic success and well-being? What impacts does it have on families and the community? The School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of educational success, families is a community-partnered project that investigates the role of the built environment in reducing inequities. The study looks at how innovative school redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment can affect children, families, and communities in marginalized neighbourhoods.
A student’s work displayed in the school.
How did we do it?
In 2011 and 2012, a school in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhood in downtown Toronto was closed down for school redesign. The school redesign was informed by an inclusive architectural design process, where students, teachers, parents, the community, and housing experts shared their design input for the new school.
As you can see in the timeline below, during the school redesign students and teachers were relocated to two ‘feeder schools (FS1, FS2)’ in the same neighbourhood:
After the process, the school was reopened in 2013 with many former and new students from the ‘feeder schools’ (FS1, FS2) moving into the ‘redesign school (RS).’ Throughout the school redesign process, neighbourhood redevelopment was also happening in the community, where old social housing units were being demolished and replaced with new buildings in phases. Some residents in the community were temporarily relocated during construction, depending on what phase of the redevelopment affected their home.
What we found
From our initial findings, various themes emerged from students, families, schools, and the community. These included thoughts on:
School and neighbourhood safety
Neighbourhood redevelopment
Built environment (before, during, and after school redesign)
School social dynamics and transition (during school redesign and related transitions)
School-based programs and services
What’s next?
With our data collection complete, we’re now focused on sharing our results with study participants, the community, key stakeholders, and the public.
Document citation: Patel, S. (2016). School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: Knowledge mobilization summary report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University.
This blog post is part of the School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of educational success and well-beingstudy. To learn more about the larger study, visit our projects.
The Model Schools for Inner Cities (MSIC) initiative aims to reduce inequities and achievement gaps for students living in low socioeconomic communities by providing additional school-based supports and services (TDSB, 2017). The MSIC initiative offers a variety of in-school health and educational support services, additional staff to support student academic success and wellbeing, and additional teaching and learning resources for staff. An essential objective of the MSIC initiative is to establish the school as the heart of the community, where parents and community members are viewed as partners in students’ learning and success. To support family and community involvement in schools, MSIC schools often have partnerships with community agencies to offer programming in schools and Community Support Workers at each school act as liaisons between the community and the school. In addition, the Parent Academy, led by parents in MSIC schools, have hosted parent conferences and workshops to support the school community (Yau, Archer, & Romard, 2018). To read more about the MSIC initiative, click here.
Student artwork at the redesign school.
In our research, we spoke with students and school staff in 2013 and 2014 to learn more about their perspectives on family involvement both in school and at home. We found that most students said that their parents and caregivers were involved at home and helped them with their homework. Other students said that their parents were unable to help, because they were unable to speak English or were too busy.
School staff said that families were involved with school issues. For example, at one school, parents voiced their concerns over Wi-Fi being installed in classrooms. Staff also discussed school and community-based programs that encouraged parent involvement. These programs included school-based preschool services along with free programs and activities in the community.
This research shows that culturally diverse parents may tend to focus their involvement in their children’s education at home as opposed to physically volunteering in schools Patel, 2018; Patel & Corter, 2013). The MSIC initiative continues to strengthen school-family-community partnerships through programs such as the Parent Academy, which aims to empower parents to share resources about student learning and education and provides opportunities for personal and professional development for parents. Programs such as these can foster family involvement in students’ educational success and well-being and a closer two-way communication between families and schools.
We held focus groups in 2013 and 2014 with students (ages 4 to 13) and their teachers.
References
Patel, S. (2018). Student and teacher
perspectives on Model Schools for Inner Cities: Knowledge mobilization summary
report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University
Patel, S., &
Corter, C. (2013a). Building capacity for parent involvement through
school-based preschool services. Early
Child Development and Care, 183(7), 981−1004. DOI:10.1080/03004430.2012.701625
Toronto District School Board [TDSB]. (2017). Enhancing Equity Task Force: Report and recommendations. Retrieved on February 13, 2019 from Toronto, ON: Author. Retrieved from: http://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/community/docs/EETFReportPdfVersion.pdf
Yau, M., Archer, B., & Romard, R. (2018). Model Schools for Inner Cities: A 10-Year Overview. Toronto, ON: Toronto District School Board.
Click here to read more about student and teacher perspectives on the MSIC initiative.
To read more about the School Redesign and Neighbourhood Redevelopment: A longitudinal study of education success and well-being study, click here.
Document citation: Patel, S. (2018). Student and teacher perspectives on Model Schools for Inner Cities: Knowledge mobilization summary report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University.
For further information regarding the overall project see: Patel, S. (2016). School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: Knowledge mobilization summary report. Toronto, ON: School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University.
This is an ongoing study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and in partnership with the City of Toronto (Children’s Services), Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Toronto District School Board, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (University of Toronto), Housing Services Corporation, and the Centre for Urban Health Solutions (St. Michael’s Hospital). We will continue to share more updates about our ongoing projects soon.
Meet Dr. Sejal Patel, an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Studies, in the Faculty of Community Services at Ryerson University. With training in developmental psychology and education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Dr. Patel held Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategic Training and Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation post-doctoral fellowships at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael’s Hospital. She is an Affiliate Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital.
Dr. Patel’s research investigates the effects of innovation in (1) service provision and education, and (2) the designed environment, on inequities in children’s educational success and well-being. Her research on educational success and well-being considers children’s physical, language, cognitive, social, and emotional development. As a community-engaged scholar, Dr. Patel pursues her professional goals by collaborating with community partners to carry out intervention research with marginalized populations to help reduce inner city disparities, and to mobilize knowledge to help inform local practice and public policy.
Here are Dr. Patel and the GEEC team’s current projects:
School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A study of educational success, families, and equity (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [SSHRC] funded, Primary Investigator)
Reducing inequities in children’s educational success and family well-being in marginalized communities through innovation in public education (SSHRC funded, Primary Investigator)
Full-day kindergarten: Longitudinal effects on children’s educational success and well-being (SSHRC funded, Co-Investigator)
Natalie Cummins is a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) with a Masters in Environmental Studies who has worked with the GEEC research team for six years. What excites her about this this collaborative research group is the opportunity to “contribute to research that aims to reduce inequities for children and families.” Currently, she is the Research Project Manager for the School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of educational success families and equity and Reducing inequities in children’s educational success and family well-being in marginalized communities through innovation in public education projects.
After completing her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies at Ryerson University, Natalie worked at Ryerson University’s Gerrard Resource Centre (GRC), Canada’s only university-based family support program, to develop environmental programs for children and families. In the program families explore their local parks through stories, hikes, play and inquiry-based activities. Natalie is also currently a RECE, Family Supports in the EarlyON program at the GRC.
Natalie’s graduate community-based participatory research project titled Semilla: A Community-University Partnership for Environmental Education brought together the voices of community members, students and school staff in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor in Costa Rica to co-develop an environmental education resource and highlight promising practices in community-university collaboration. You can read more about Natalie’s work here.
In GEEC Research, Natalie has been an integral part of the team. Most recently, she worked with Dr. Sejal Patel on a paper published in the journal Improving Schools titled Student and Staff Social Dynamics and Transitions during School Redesign.
Meet Katherine Benvenuto, a Research Assistant on the GEEC team. Katherine studied Psychology at York University. She chose to study psychology because of her interest in mental health, which eventually led her to find her passion in research design, specifically research methods and data analysis. Katherine has worked with the City of Toronto’s Parks and Recreation department where she guided community residents in navigating school and community institutions, and find resources. Currently, Katherine works with the GEEC Research team as a Research Assistant.
In the GEEC team, Katherine is excited to combine her experience working in communities with her passion for research design. Katherine is interested in the use of innovative research methods in community-engaged research. “I strongly believe that individuals’ actual experiences and voice adds context and value to the research you are doing,” she says. Currently, Katherine is working with the team to analyze data collected in the Reducing inequities in children’s educational success and family well-being in marginalized communities through innovation in public education project. What she likes most about this type of research is that it isn’t only for an academic audience but also works to mobilize findings with communities and has the potential to impact community members’ daily lives.
Earlier this year at GEEC, Katherine assisted with the School redesign and neighbourhood redevelopment: A longitudinal study of education success and well-being project. What she learned from this study was the potential impact of the physical built environment on healthy child development and child and family services.
At the beginning of the transition, students spoke about an initial divide between the new 
