A Multilevel Partnership Where Innovation, Collaboration, and Impact Reshape Stakeholders' Vision

• In Event: Leveraging School-University Partnership Research for School Improvement

Abstract

Often within education systems, failed collaboration is attributed to inadequate resources, high-stakes testing, and limited overlap in the goals and vision of would-be-partners. As such, familiarity and convenience serve as fallbacks on the “same old, same old.”
This study highlights a multilayered collaborative between public and private institutions of higher education and partners in public and private elementary schools. Outcomes from a two-year initiative highlight the embedded role of Montessori curricula as a catalyst for partnerships among unlikely stakeholders. Findings underscore a culture informed by a shared vision and reciprocity for decision making in PK-3 learning.

Authors

• Mary D. Burbank, University of Utah

• Melissa Goldsmith, University of Utah

• Kona Park Eldredge, University of Utah

• Jennifer Spikner, Elizabeth Academy