School Districts and Their External Partners: A Conceptual Framework for Productive Partnering

• In Event: Partnerships, Policies, and Parental Involvement

Abstract

With limited organizational resources and capacity, school districts often reach out to partner with external organizations and individuals. However, without careful management, these partnerships can be disjointed or counter-productive. We draw on the idea of absorptive capacity to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the range of ways that districts work with external partners and how that work is shaped by district conditions. For researchers, this framework serves as a tool for analyzing the nature of external partnerships, and for district leaders, it provides guidance for strategic decisions about when to partner and with whom.

Authors

• Caitlin Farrell, University of California - Berkeley

• Cynthia E. Coburn, Northwestern University