Multi-Institutional Partnerships to Support Public Education

• In Event: 60.053 - Teacher Preparation Partnerships for Mutual Benefit: Insights From Chicago

Abstract

Partnerships between public schools and universities have evolved in response to changes since the passage of “No Child Left Behind.” This presentation investigates the recent histories of one neighborhood public school, one university, and one cultural institution over the past thirteen years to understand the organization of a partnership designed to provide mutual benefits in order to sustain public education. This gives a historicized view of school reforms, policy initiatives, and social changes as they influence public education institutions and allows for contextualized analysis of the design and function of partnerships.

Partnerships are often built on rationales of common cause in efforts to improve educational outcomes for urban students. While occasionally effective in achieving a range of educational goals (Kersh & Masztal, 1998), conceptualizations of partnerships have been limited to university’s work with schools and situated within the particular needs of each institution (Walsh & Backe, 2013). The intention is to broaden the scope of partnerships along two dimensions: extending partnerships to institutions beyond schools and universities, and; direct consideration of socio-political contexts in planning and evaluation.

This genealogical approach to investigating the recent history of three institutions is guided by the question, how have socio-political changes over the past thirteen years shaped the organization of present partnerships with Loyola’s teacher preparation program? We began by outlining the scope of the partnership and analyzing data collected by each institution to match stated objectives to actual activities. A series of individual and roundtable semi-structured interviews with key participants were conducted to understand how each institution comprehended and responded to changes to social and political contexts, and how each views the current partnership in relation to past and future changes. Interview data were then matched to one another and against documentary analysis to triangulate.

There appears to be near-consensus that mutual benefit is an essential component of successful educational partnerships (Kruger et. al 2009). The primary internal benefits to schools are usually: gained expertise, resources, or more effective leadership and organization (Sirotnik & Goodlad, 1988; Walsh & Backe, 2013). Internal benefits to universities usually consist of opportunities for research and teacher preparation, while cultural institutions benefit through increased exposure for programs and patronage. Tensions arise between the differing priorities and the limited resources available for collaboration (Jeffery & Polleck, 2010). Yet partnerships have external benefits as formal connections between institutions position the group within broader contexts, generate new resources unavailable to any individual institution, and integrate educational experiences across sites to expand learning. Findings generated by this study illustrate how the intuitions negotiate tensions in an effort to progress toward the stated goals.

In an era of limited resources for public education being distributed in quickly evolving ways, public schools, universities, and cultural institutions can view each other as similarly motivated institutions with material benefits to offer. A contextualized model of partnership convened around teacher preparation will be of wide interest to scholars and practitioners as it expands the understanding of how partnerships can be organized and assessed in dynamic socio-political climates.

Authors

• Charles Tocci, Loyola University Chicago

• Ann Marie Ryan, Loyola University Chicago

• Lara Smetana, Loyola University Chicago

• Caleb Steindam, Loyola University Chicago