Welcome to CRECE
Welcome to the Center for Research, Equity, and Collaborative Engagement
CRECE is a center in which CSU East Bay faculty and graduate students work in partnership with Pre-K-16 and higher education professionals. Our mission is to identify the needs of Pre-K-16 students and educators, address their most pressing concerns and support social justice practices through scholarly research, evaluation support, and professional and community development.
CRECE is derived from the Spanish word crecer, meaning “to grow,” which underscores our overall goal: finding new ways to help schools learn and develop, thus fulfilling the ultimate potential of all students.
CRECE supports
- The CSUEB mission through building partnerships to meet local and state educational needs
- Districts and colleges through justice-focused professional learning, capacity development, and site-based inquiry
- CSUEB students through research and fellowships
- CSUEB alumni through publication and writing support workshops, networking, and a social justice focused community
Based on our prior research and work across districts, we support capacity building in five dimensions: expertise, culture, relationships, structures, and policies (Hayes, et al., 2020). Attention to the each of these areas is needed for sustainable instructional and equitable reform. We facilitate structured sessions across district community members to map the current state of capacity, establish communication pathways, and create actionable plans for capacity building.
CRECE research and evaluation is in service to a more equitable and just education. This requires long-term, respectful partnerships to be built between universities and local educational agencies. Evaluation is most effective if done in the spirit of collaborative inquiry, with a focus on growth rather than judgment.
We approach professional learning through the lens of equity and justice, and with the assumption that every member of the professional learning group brings assets and expertise to the table. Our facilitation of professional learning incorporates the same pedagogies and facilitation methods that we advocate for in our work.
We advocate for reflective and collaborative cycles of inquiry and action as a basis of sustainable change. We use both improvement science and equity transformation cycles (Safir, 2021) to support our partners in solving equity and education problems within their collective practice.
CRECE is committed to building sustainable, deeply humanizing, and nonhierarchical relationships with our partners.
Contact Us
Department of Educational Leadership
25800 Carlos Bee Blvd Hayward.
Director: Kathryn Hayes, Ph.D., Professor
Email: kathryn.hayes@csueastbay.edu