SCORE Vlog! How do you define intergenerational work, and why do you think it’s important?

CYCLE believes that high quality public schools and equitable educational systems are the cornerstone of an authentic democracy and a just society. Building the schools our communities deserve requires collective power derived from shared leadership and trusting relationships between youth, families, and educators. At CYCLE, we contribute to building COLLECTIVE POWER and fighting for educational justice by creating spaces for learning, strategy, and leadership development with and for those most impacted by educational injustices. 

What is SCORE?

One project focused on our value of collective power is Schools and Communities Organizing for Racial Equity (SCORE). SCORE is an ongoing collaborative, action-oriented research project that brings together an intergenerational community research team consisting of youth and parent leaders. With support from partner organizations, CYCLE and The Social Policy Hub for Equity Research in Education (SPHERE), this team is developing a tool or “SCOREcard” that assesses a school district on indicators of equity that the community identifies as important.

SCORE Providence launched in early February, 2021, with a nine-member Community Research Team, made up of four parents and five students attending Providence Public Schools. Community Research Team meetings were conducted in English and Spanish to accommodate the needs of research team members.  The Community Research Team met biweekly (virtually) for activities including relationship building; storytelling, future visioning, and issue identification; understanding equity indicators; understanding quantitative and qualitative research methods; research ethics training; research instrument design; data analysis; and indicator development.  

The Community Research Team’s formal engagement in the project ended in November 2021. Four team members have remained engaged as SCORE Fellows to co-lead an implementation phase, which is focused on SCOREcard development and distribution, as well as outreach, advocacy, and partnership with both the Providence Public School District  and the broader community of students, parents, and educators in Providence. 

One important feature of the SCORE project is that it is an intergenerational parent- and youth-led effort. In this video, three of the SCORE Fellows talk about their experiences with intergenerational work in general and the SCORE project in particular.