The Development of a 13-Year Research-Practice Partnership Involving School District, Cultural Institutions, and University Participants

• In Event: Supporting and Sustaining Productive Research-Practice Partnerships in STEM

Abstract

Purpose
This paper describes the development, practices and outcomes of a 13-year research-practice partnership among a large public school district, eight cultural institutions including museums, and university researchers. We focus upon how the partnership was established, tensions that arose over the years and their resolutions, and institutional practices that have supported the partnership’s tenure.

Perspective(s)
The partnership was designed to support middle school science teachers across a large public school district in improving their teaching practice by providing them with professional learning opportunities, access to the resources of the cultural institutions, and classroom materials.

Modes of Inquiry
Our partnership draws upon design based implementation research in which we develop and test materials, resources and learning experiences that support science teachers in improving their teaching practice and in working with children to accomplish long-term investigations, while gathering and examining evidence about the impact upon teachers’ practice and student learning in a collaborative, iterative cycle.

Sources of Evidence
Our analysis of the successes and challenges of this RPP draws on data from interviews, field notes and historical documents. We also report on a variety of empirical studies which draw on student and teacher demographic data, test scores, and classroom observations.

Key Findings
Our analysis suggest that the partnership has a set of features consistent with research on partnerships that have contributed to its successes and longevity (Coburn & Stein, 2010; Coburn, Penuel & Geil, 2013): distributed expertise; shared vision of student and teacher learning across sites; articulated vision through a set of shared practices (such as looking at student work together); and the ability to calibrate vision by responding to and adapting to shifts in district and national context.
We will also share findings about the program’s mission to improve teachers’ practice and students’ outcomes in science. Studies of partnership teachers reveal that participation is especially transformative for teachers with less prior experience with scientific research. However, teachers of all backgrounds rely on partnership program scaffolds for supporting long-term science investigations and these scaffolds support both novice and veteran teachers in enacting ambitious science teaching practices (Authors, in prep). While the program does not explicitly prepare students for the mandated 8th grade science exam, students in RPP schools perform better than their peers in non-RPP schools. Attending a partnership school increases a students’ likelihood of being “proficient” in science by approximately 2.0 percentage points in the school’s first year and approximately 5-7 percentage points in subsequent years; these effects are highest for students of color and students in low-performing middle schools (Authors, 2015). Analysis of NYC teacher mobility data reveals that the program also positively impacts teacher retention (Authors, 2017).

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
The partnership offers important lessons not only for those who seek to improve science teaching, but for educators in school districts, museums, or other cultural institutions who want to initiate and sustain such a partnership.

Authors

• Karen M. Hammerness, American Museum of Natural History

• Anna MacPherson, Stanford University

• Hudson Roditi, American Museum of Natural History

• Meryle Weinstein, New York University

• Linda Curtis-Bey, New York City