Making Data More Used and Useful Undergraduate courses meet growing desire of students like Arielle Cunanan to master new technologies

By Mary Braswell

Each year, the Los Angeles Unified School District surveys its students, parents, teachers and staff, collecting hundreds of thousands of responses to questions about academics, safety, campus climate, emotional maturity and more.

A group of UCLA Luskin students got the unique opportunity to take a deep dive into this massive pool of raw data, identifying trends and developing insights to help principals better understand their schools’ strengths and areas for improvement.

The undergraduates and a select group of master’s students were enrolled in “Data Analysis for Educational Equity and Improvement,” offered for the first time in spring 2023. It’s one of a number of new offerings added to the Public Affairs curriculum to meet a growing demand for data and technology courses in the social sciences.

“Our students care about the world and want to make a difference. And one of the ways we learn about the world is exploring data sets,” said Meredith Phillips, the associate professor of public policy who developed the course with funding from the UCLA Chancellor’s Award for Community-Engaged Research.

“It’s a way of introducing students to the joy of becoming a scholar and a discoverer. And that’s what’s awesome about a research university, right? We essentially spend much of our time learning new things.”

The class was an upper division offering, but every Public Affairs major must complete basic coursework in the tools of quantitative analysis. Some love it; others do not.

But undergrads who get a taste of multivariate regression and chi-squared tests and simply want more now have additional courses to choose from, including open spots in graduate-level classes offered by the Luskin School’s Public Policy and Urban Planning programs. Many go on to learn a new type of foreign language, including R, Python and SQL.

“We’re getting a lot of students who are interested in the intersection of data science, tech and public affairs,” said Erika Villanueva, director of student services for the undergraduate program.

“We’re always thinking about what else we can do with our curriculum to support our students and to augment what we already offer. So, it just became a natural progression to add to our research methods offerings.”

Undergrad Arielle Cunanan said her first encounter with statistical analysis came through Public Affairs 60, “Using Data to Learn About Society,” a core course taught by Phillips.

“I never touched coding, never touched data science or analytics or computer science — nothing before 60,” she said. “And Professor Phillips was amazing. She really cared about teaching us about statistics and data analysis specifically for public affairs and social justice issues.”

When Cunanan spotted Phillips’ new course on educational equity, she jumped at the chance to enroll.

Working on behalf of a local elementary school, she and her team sharpened their proficiency in R, the programming language used to clean, organize and analyze the trove of survey data from LAUSD.

“It was hard. It was stressful. There were late nights. But then we got into the groove,” said Cunanan, who is majoring in psychology with a public affairs minor.

As patterns began to emerge from the enormous pool of data, the students set out to share their findings. That led to another key skill the course emphasized: In addition to being scientifically sound, the discoveries drawn from data must also be clearly and powerfully communicated.

Cunanan said her team was grateful for the opportunity to deliver two presentations to the school’s leadership team.

“The first time around, it was a bunch of charts, a bunch of graphs, different bar plots about each variable. It was just throwing numbers at them, statistics, percentages,” she said.

“And so, the next time around, we put ourselves in their shoes and said, OK, if we’re the administration, what do we need to see to help us create change at our school based on these variables? How can we make this more understandable so that it’s actually helpful?”

The team distilled the most relevant findings and conveyed them in a simpler presentation with bullet points, a few targeted graphs and time for fielding questions.

The experience has turned Cunanan into a true believer in the power of data to compel social change. She says she is bent on learning every coding language she can during her time at UCLA.

“Once you feel like you sort of get it, it really teaches you how to do hard things,” she said. “For me, if I could do this, I could do anything.”

“Data Analysis for Educational Equity and Improvement” arose out of Phillips’ desire to teach students how to find data-informed solutions to the pressing needs of local schools.

It’s the type of work she has conducted for more than a decade as co-founder of the Los Angeles Education Research Institute at UCLA Luskin, a role that has put her in close collaboration with LAUSD decision-makers. The annual School Experience Survey has been a crucial resource in Phillips’ research.

“We had heard a lot of folks at the district saying we wish these survey data were more used and useful,” she said. “So I thought that there might be a really neat opportunity to help train students in data analysis and data communication, then use them as analysts for particular schools and principals.

“They use real data with a real audience, an audience that genuinely cares.”

Winning the Chancellor’s Award for Community-Engaged Research allowed Phillips to hire a team of undergraduates to help her develop and test the curriculum.

“The class is a really hands-on, applied class. It develops problem-solving skills and logic skills and communication skills,” she said.

“The students learn that data has many kinds of roles to play. It’s useful for telling stories, making arguments and for trying to understand the world — and for making the world better in education.”

Advanced High School Math Courses Pave Way for College Success, Report Finds

High school students interested in pursuing a career in STEM should have access to calculus classes in 12th grade, according to a new report by the Los Angeles Education Research Institute (LAERI) at UCLA. The study analyzed college performance among more than 17,000 Los Angeles Unified School District graduates who attended a California community college or Cal State Northridge. It found that students who took math in 12th grade completed more college-level math credits compared to academically similar students who did not take math in 12th grade. It also found that students who took calculus in 12th grade completed more college-level math credits than those who took statistics. The findings underscore the importance of providing access to advanced mathematics courses in high school, which will particularly benefit students interested in pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering and math, said Meredith Phillips, associate professor of public policy and co-founder of LAERI. An earlier report from the institute found that taking 12th grade math improves students’ chances of enrolling and continuing in higher education; the new study assesses student performance in the college environment. The research was funded by the nonprofit College Futures Foundation and conducted by scholars from UCLA, USC, Reed College and Loyola Marymount University. LAERI, based at UCLA Luskin, has collaborated with L.A. Unified for more than 10 years to produce research that district decision-makers and educators use to improve educational quality and equity in Los Angeles.

Read the LAERI reports: 

Twelfth Grade Math and College Access

Twelfth Grade Math and College Success


 

Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House

Register HERE to attend.

 

The Luskin School of Public Affairs faculty and staff invite you to attend the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House learn how the Public Affairs major aligns with your interests!


Luskin School of Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
11:00am – 1:00pm (PT)
3383 Public Affairs Building, 3rd Floor Commons Rooftop

The Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House is intended to introduce first and second-year students to the and incoming transfer students to the Public Affairs major and the Luskin School of Public Affairs. The Open House will feature a welcome from the Luskin Interim Dean, Chair of the Undergraduate Program, and Luskin counselors. You will also have the opportunity connect with Luskin faculty, staff, and peers. Luskin counselors will be available to speak with you about your interest in the Public Affairs major, or any of the three Luskin minors (Gerontology, Public Affairs, Urban and Regional Studies).

Lunch will be served. Attendees will receive Luskin swag!

Can’t make it to the Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House? Contact the Public Affairs Undergraduate Program via MyUCLA Message Center to speak with a Luskin counselor!

 

Register to Attend

Register HERE to attend. Walk-ins are welcomed.

 

Keeping Our Community Safe

To create a safe and accessible space for everyone in attendance, we will follow the UCLA COVID-19 health and safety protocols as outlined on the UCLA COVID-19 Resources website (https://covid-19.ucla.edu).

If you are feeling unwell or are unable to come to campus we invite you to connect with our office by scheduling an appointment with a Luskin counselor or following us on Instagram @uclaluskinug.

Phillips on Benefits of Taking 12th-Grade Math

Meredith Phillips, director of the Los Angeles Education Research Institute at UCLA Luskin, spoke to EdSource about a study she co-authored on the benefits of taking math in the senior year of high school. Researchers who followed the educational journey of Los Angeles Unified School District students over several years found that those who took 12th-grade math were better positioned to enroll and stay in college than those who didn’t. “Some may be approaching senior year math as ‘I don’t enjoy math and I will take other things in my senior year.’ I can relate to that,” Phillips said. “But what the research suggests is that it probably makes sense to take that math class in senior year because it will be helpful in opening doors.” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told EdSource that the district plans to “explode the information” on social media and look closely at where to expand and diversify math courses among high schools.


 

Taking 12th Grade Math Opens Doors to Higher Education, Research Finds UCLA-led study following nearly 27,000 L.A. Unified students yields insights that can help inform education policy

Students who take math in the 12th grade improve their chances of enrolling and continuing in higher education, according to a new report by the Los Angeles Education Research Institute at UCLA.

In partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the institute’s researchers followed the educational journeys of nearly 27,000 students beginning in the 11th grade. Those who took a full year of math in the 12th grade were more likely to enroll in a four-year college and return for a second year, compared with academically similar peers who did not take math, the study found.

The report yields several findings that can inform current debates over education policy in California, said Meredith Phillips, co-founder of the institute known as LAERI, which is housed at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

One key takeaway is the importance of a robust curriculum that allows all students to continue their math education into their senior year, said Phillips, whose research focuses on the causes and consequences of educational inequality.

“School staff, parents and other adults would be wise to encourage students to take these courses, which open up college opportunities and a path to longer-term social and economic mobility,” she said.

The University of California and Cal State systems recommend but do not require a fourth year of high school math for freshman applicants. However, those who take math in the 12th grade may have an advantage in a competitive admissions process, particularly on campuses that no longer consider SAT or ACT test scores, the researchers noted.

“Enrollment in 12th grade math may also expose students to a peer group that is more college-focused, motivating them to pursue higher education,” said Leonard Wainstein, a visiting assistant professor at Reed College who served as the report’s lead analyst.

About a quarter of the students in the study did not take math in 12th grade. To determine whether specific groups of students were less likely than their peers to enroll in these courses, the researchers examined differences by gender, ethnicity, English proficiency and socioeconomic status. The findings can be used to inform L.A. Unified staff about whether particular types of students need more encouragement to take math or more access to 12th grade math courses.

The study, which followed high school students who were academically similar at the end of their junior year, identified benefits from taking any kind of math class in 12th grade, including traditional offerings such as precalculus or alternatives such as statistics or data science.

Even though students who took 12th grade math experienced a very slight reduction in their overall grade point average, the researchers identified positive effects on college enrollment and persistence.

The study was funded by the Oakland-based nonprofit College Futures Foundation and conducted by researchers affiliated with LAERI, which has collaborated with L.A. Unified for more than 10 years to produce research that district decision-makers and educators use to improve educational quality and equity in Los Angeles.

The research team includes Wainstein, a former postdoctoral scholar at UCLA Luskin; Carrie Miller, LAERI’s associate director and a PhD candidate at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies; Phillips, associate professor of public policy and sociology at UCLA and faculty director of LAERI; Kyo Yamashiro, an assistant professor of education at Loyola Marymount University who co-founded LAERI with Phillips and served as the founding executive director; and Tatiana Melguizo, professor at the USC Rossier School of Education and the Pullias Center for Higher Education.

The researchers will follow up with a second report this year that looks more closely at college performance among a subset of the former L.A. Unified students.

Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House

The Luskin School of Public Affairs faculty and staff invite you to attend the UCLA Luskin Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House to (re)connect with your Luskin community.

Whether you are new to the public affairs major or are a continuing student looking to reconnect with your Luskin network, the Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House is the event for you!

The Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House will feature a welcome from the Luskin Dean and Chair of the Undergraduate Program, and offer social activities for you to connect with your Luskin faculty, academic counselors, and peers.

REGISTER HERE. Walk-ins are welcomed!

Can’t make it to the Public Affairs Undergraduate Program Open House? Learn more about the B.A. in Public Affairs here, or contact the Luskin counselors here to learn more about the program.

 

Keeping Our Community Safe

To create a safe and accessible space for everyone in attendance, the Public Affairs Undergraduate Program will follow the UCLA COVID-19 health and safety protocols as outlined on the UCLA COVID-19 Resources website (https://covid-19.ucla.edu). If you are feeling unwell or are unable to come to campus we invite you to connect with our office by scheduling an appointment with a Luskin undergraduate academic counselor here.

 

Undergrads Gather to ‘Chat With the Chair’

The UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Program hosted “Chat With the Chair” on April 19 on the front lawn of the Public Affairs Building. The event gave students the opportunity to speak with the department chair, Meredith Phillips, as well as Luskin counselors and peers while enjoying pastries, coffee and tea. Public affairs majors and minors, pre-majors and students interested in the major were invited to the event, an opportunity for students to have a casual chat with Professor Phillips and reconnect with their peers. Students raised questions about career prospects and graduate school, as well as general inquiries about the major.

Photos by Louis Susunaga


 

A Platform for Elevating Student Voices As UCLA's student body president, public affairs major Breeze Velazquez embraces the role as an advocate for her peers

By Mary Braswell

During UCLA’s year of remote learning, Breeze Velazquez spent much of her time advocating for other Bruins.

Working one-on-one with students who believed they had been unfairly accused of academic dishonesty was not a role she had ever expected to play.

But it was one step on a surprising journey that led the senior public affairs major to seek and win the office of president of the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council.

“The crazy thing is, I never saw myself ever running for USAC,” Velazquez said. “I was an introvert. I had no social media up until last year.”

But in her public affairs coursework, as well as through internships with organizations like JusticeLA, MALDEF and Unite-LA, Velazquez found her own voice by helping others find theirs.

Her campaign for student body president focused on meeting the unique needs of first-generation, low-income students of color.

“I drew upon my own experiences and the experiences of my peers,” she said. “I grew up with a single mom. I grew up low-income, as well. And you know, I’m the first in my family to attend college.”

Those experiences helped shape a platform based on listening to the concerns of a wide range of students, then helping them connect with the right contacts in the UCLA administration. So far this year, this has included helping undocumented students navigate the university’s financial aid system and advocating for the creation of a special office to provide resources to those accused of academic dishonesty.

During the COVID-19 lockdown last year, UCLA saw an uptick in these cases, with students struggling to defend themselves over Zoom, said Velazquez, who at the time was the student body’s academic affairs commissioner. While providing guidance in these cases was not a formal part of her responsibilities, she decided to step in.

“One of the things I liked most about the role was the work that I got to do one-on-one with students,” she said. “I really fell in love with this project because I really see myself advocating for students in the future.”

Velazquez acknowledged that managing her academic workload, juggling several part-time jobs and serving in student government — which can be a lightning rod for criticism — has been physically and emotionally draining, especially during the pandemic.

She has leaned on friends and a tight-knit family, and has drawn support from the public affairs department she joined as a freshman pre-major.

“I just really found a community within the major. The students are so compassionate,” she said.

“And I look back on some of the professors I had who really supported me. Meredith Phillips, she was amazing,” Velazquez said of the undergraduate program’s founding chair. “I have gone to her for advice time and time again, even right now.”

Her coursework in public affairs, as well as Chicana/o and Central American studies — both intimate, interdisciplinary programs — has also helped bring her life goals into focus. Each department encouraged her to engage in the community and take advantage of course offerings from across campus, including in policy, education and law — fields she is interested in pursuing after graduation.

Until then, she’ll spend her year as student body president working to elevate the voices of students and helping them access UCLA resources.

“As difficult as it has been and as much as I never pictured myself taking on this role, … I know that I care about this and I’m strong enough because I was raised the right way,” she said. “My mom taught me that I’m a strong woman and no one’s going to deter what I need to get done.”

UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Open House

The Luskin School of Public Affairs faculty and staff invite you to attend the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Undergraduate Open House to (re)connect with your Luskin community. Whether you are new to the public affairs major or are a continuing student looking to reconnect with your Luskin network, this is the event for you!

The Public Affairs Undergraduate Open House will feature a welcome from the Luskin Dean and Chair of the Undergraduate Program, and offer social activities for you to connect with your Luskin faculty, academic counselors and peers. Can’t make it? Follow us on Instagram @UCLALuskinUG during Welcome Week and connect with a Luskin academic counselor at www.luskin.ucla.edu/undergrad.

Registration is required to attend the UCLA Luskin Public Affairs Undergraduate Open House. Please register by Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 11:59pm (PST). REGISTER HERE

Keeping Our Community Safe

To ensure the safety of everyone in attendance, we will follow the UCLA COVID-19 health and safety protocols as outlined on the UCLA COVID-19 Resources website (https://covid-19.ucla.edu). All attendees will be required to wear a face covering. If you are feeling unwell or are unable to come to campus we invite you to join us online by following us on Instagram (@UCLALuskinUG). All registrants will receive electronic copies of the materials shared during the event.

How the Weinstein Scandal Ignited a Movement Gains made in the #MeToo era are tempered by unresolved questions of accountability, journalist Megan Twohey tells a UCLA audience

By Mary Braswell

The New York Times investigation that exposed producer Harvey Weinstein’s long history as a sexual predator set off a chain of events that led to prison for the Hollywood power broker and empowerment for women around the world who stepped up to share their own stories of abuse.

Today, the story continues to unfold, with contours of the investigation now coming to light and nagging questions of accountability still unanswered, journalist Megan Twohey told a UCLA audience during a March 9 virtual lecture.

Twohey and Jodi Kantor shared a byline on that first blockbuster piece in the fall of 2017, part of a body of work that would earn their newspaper the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Both reporters were bowled over by the whirlwind of events that followed.

“One day we were working on this incredibly difficult story, and then just a few days later we started to see change happening everywhere,” Twohey said. “The #MeToo movement turned out to be more sweeping and durable than we could have ever predicted.”

Twohey’s talk was the latest in the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Lecture Series, which brings together scholars as well as national and local leaders to address society’s most pressing problems, such as the culture’s long history of men getting away with abusing their authority. Though hundreds of powerful men have lost their jobs since Twohey and Kantor’s story broke, the fallout continues, including in the recent mini-series “Allen v. Farrow,” which documents the sexual abuse case against filmmaker Woody Allen.

As the team’s reporting continued over months and years, “there was also growing confusion and frustration that in some ways it felt like everything was changing — and then it also felt like nothing was changing at all,” Twohey said.

‘At a time when everything can feel stuck, and the very notion of “truth” is collapsing, we want you to know that journalism and facts can win.’ — Megan Twohey

The story, they realized, was less about one man’s misdeeds and more about a sprawling system of coercion and complicity that had facilitated predatory behavior for generations.

“The real moral of the Weinstein story began to dawn on us,” Twohey said. “For decades this man had racked up allegation after allegation and, instead of stopping him, more and more people had helped him.”

During the event, which drew viewers from around the world, Twohey described the pervasive use of non-disclosure agreements to buy the silence of women who lodged complaints.

“Nobody would say that a victim of sexual harassment or sexual assault shouldn’t receive financial recompense for what’s happened to them,” she said. “I think the real question here is the secrecy … that allows predators to cover their tracks and to keep hurting other people.”

The #MeToo movement transformed cultural norms, but there is still no consensus on how to handle sexual abuse cases, Twohey said.

“What is the scope of behavior under scrutiny?” she asked. “Are we talking only about allegations of rape and sexual harassment, or are we talking about grayer areas, like a boss’ awkward hand on an employee’s back?”

Complicating the conversation are charges that the #MeToo era has led to false accusations and quick ousters without due process.

But Twohey assured the audience that, “at a time when everything can feel stuck, and the very notion of ‘truth’ is collapsing, we want you to know that journalism and facts can win.”

Twohey and Kantor reveal details of their reporting journey, including information that was originally off the record, in their 2019 book “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.”

“When we started we had no idea whether Harvey Weinstein had done anything wrong. Remember, he was considered a humanitarian, a philanthropist,” Twohey told the Luskin Lecture audience.

Over the next several months, the two journalists approached a long list of sources, persuaded them to tell their stories, then appealed to them to go public. They also amassed records including Weinstein Company accounting records, human resources complaints, notes from internal conference calls, emails and more.

“When we went back to women to ask them to go on the record, we were asking them to stand on a body of evidence,” Twohey said.

Satisfied that the story was air-tight, the New York Times prepared to publish, knowing that Weinstein had launched a campaign to discredit the women who had come forward — and also aware that another journalist, Ronan Farrow, was racing to break the story. His reporting for the New Yorker, published a few days later, earned a share of the Pulitzer for Public Service.

Days after the stories went to press, Weinstein was fired from the film studio he co-founded. Within months, he was arrested and charged with rape in New York. In February 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

At the Luskin Lecture, Twohey spoke with UCLA’s Meredith Phillips, an associate professor of public policy and sociology and chair of the undergraduate program at UCLA Luskin, about parallels between investigative journalism and social science research, two fields that require strict adherence to evidence from many sources.

Twohey said that throughout her coverage of the Weinstein story and its aftermath, she honored the distinction between journalism and advocacy.

“We reporters gather the facts, pick up a pen and hope that by revealing the truth we can help bring about change.”