Tripod Project
The Picard Center partnered with Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson, nationally acclaimed economist and Sr. Research Associate at Harvard’s Weiner Center for Social Policy, to administer the Tripod Project in four high-poverty schools in Lafayette Parish.
The Tripod Project assesses a school’s climate and aims to raise achievement for all students, while also narrowing achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups.
The project consists of a survey, which is administered to students, teachers and parents. The survey is divided into three areas: content, pedagogy and relationships, which make up the tripod, and it measures the needs for teachers to:
understand what they are teaching; utilize multiple ways of effectively communicating the material to students; and relate to students and parents in ways that motivate and enable them.
utilize multiple ways of effectively communicating the material to students; and
relate to students and parents in ways that motivate and enable them.
After the survey was administered and the analysis was complete, the Tripod staff returned to Lafayette Parish to assist with professional development to meet the identified needs from the survey.
Dr. Ferguson is the founder and director of the Tripod Project for School Improvement and is also the Faculty Co-Chair and Director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University.
Much of Dr. Ferguson’s research has focused on racial achievement gaps, and he has participated in a variety of consulting and policy advisory activities, including work with school districts on closing the achievement gap.
For more information on the Tripod project, or if you are interested in implementing the Tripod Project in your school district, please call (337) 482-1567 or (337) 482-1562.