Structural and Institutional Challenges to University-District Partnership

• In Event: Authentic Cross-Institutional Partnerships for Leadership Preparation: A Role-Diverse Dialogue About Partnership Initiation

Abstract

For Perspectives, Modes of inquiry, Data sources/evidence, and Scholarly significance, please see above.

Purpose. In this final paper, we focus on the structural challenges that each partner faced, endemic to their own institutional contexts.

Substantiated conclusion. There were several challenges which bore upon the co-design and co-instruction of the preparation program. For the district cabinet members, the primary challenge was the long-documented issue of time (Author, 2006)—carving out time for authentic participation was undoubtedly a burden, even if a welcome one. The district’s genuine commitment to the partnership was the only antidote for this challenge. For the university faculty, structural challenges included: a system that assigns faculty to compartmentalized, semester-length courses (rather than the coordinated, ongoing two-year design of this program); a teaching schedule that does not budget for regular school and district site visits; and a tenure reward system that does not prioritize partnership with local school districts. External funding from the state agency and a private foundation were critical in addressing these challenges, along with a codified agreement between the institutions concretizing a two year teaching assignment.
Finally, both the district and university instructors had to grapple with a brand new statewide assessment for leadership candidates. Partners were faced with the challenge of integrating and responding to the extensive assessment demands without compromising the authenticity of the partnership and its goal of bilingual emergent student success. Doing so required creativity; while unwelcome, it was not insurmountable.

Author

• Maritza Lozano, California State University - Fullerton