Exploring University-School Partnerships and Insider/Outsider Action Research

• In Event: Teachers and Teacher Educators Using Action Research to Inform Practice

Abstract

Challenging traditional university-K12 partnership norms, university staff at The New School used a set of trans-disciplinary strategies to coach teachers as they conducted action research and developed school improvement strategies in six NYC schools. In the final program year (2012-2013), we evaluated teacher-led change initiatives at three of the schools that remained in the partnership to better understand the variables that affected the outcomes of the coaching strategies. The objectives of the research were exploratory and as follows: 1) explore challenges related to university-high school partnerships and measuring their success; 2) compare teacher teams to better understand the variables that affected their school improvement strategies; and 3) recommend how other change facilitators and universities can support teacher-led change initiatives. Our research used grounded theory to analyze three years of observational data, interviews, focus groups, and project artifacts to better understand school-university partnerships, teacher-led school change initiatives, school-focused action research, and the micro-politics of school reform.

Authors

• Anna Alarid, The New School

• Jacqueline Jenkins, United Way of NYC