Project Description
The Spencer Foundation awarded the Durham Public Schools Foundation (DPSF) a Research–Practice Partnership (RPP) grant to build on longstanding collaborations among DPSF, Durham Public Schools (DPS), and Duke University to examine the implementation and impact of the Growing Together (GT) Initiative. GT is a transformational new process for student assignment launched in the 2024-25 school year and represents Durham's first comprehensive student assignment redesign in more than 30 years.
DPS developed a student assignment plan with deep community input that aims to provide all students with equitable access to public education. GT redesigns attendance boundaries and application programs, reduces transportation burdens, expands access to specialized academic opportunities, and creates more geographically coherent school assignment patterns for families. DPSF was integral in helping DPS connect with families to plan and launch GT, while DPS and the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke have an existing research partnership spanning more than 15 years.
Through this RPP, we seek to document the development and implementation of GT and identify meaningful indicators of success. Utilizing administrative, survey, and qualitative data, this study examines how the initiative is experienced by students, families, educators, and community members and assesses its impact on educational access, engagement, and student outcomes.
The key research questions our RPP seeks to answer include:
- Is GT achieving equity across schools, programs, and regions?
- How have enrollment patterns and demographic and academic profiles of students changed?
- What key factors contribute to identified changes?