Research Practice Partnerships in Rural Places: A View from New York State

• In Event: Global Contexts for Research-Practice Partnerships: They Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Abstract

Objectives
This presentation reports on how collaborations between researchers and practicing professionals in rural schools are adapted to context in New York State (NYS). NYS is among the most diverse states in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). In NYS schools, efforts to ensure every child receives equitable learning opportunities have been strongly influenced by what some scholars refer to as a “metro-centric ideology” which favors the interests of urban dwellers over those living in rural communities (Lennon, 2021). The rural RPPs highlighted in this research were initiated through a unique state-sponsored school improvement hub situated in a research-intensive state university driven by the goal to close the opportunity gap for rural educators to engage in RPPs (Authors). This presentation draws attention to the conditions that bring about rural school RPP engagement, the goals of RPP engagement, and the barriers in achieving RPP goals in rural places.
Perspective(s)
This study utilizes the framework of rural cultural wealth (Crumb et al., 2023) that takes an explicitly asset-based perspective against the ideological construction of rural as inherently lacking and less progressive compared with suburban and urban regions (Biddle & Azano, 2016).
Methods
The overarching research question guiding this presentation is: How are RPPs adapted to sociopolitical and cultural settings within which they work? Data sources include researcher memos and meeting notes; baseline, formative, and summative assessments of RPP impacts; school improvement-related documents (e.g. goals and action plans), and interviews with school leaders. Data were coded inductively using a constant-comparison method utilizing qualitative software (NVivo 12 pro). Code reports were generated from the data and matrices used to identify patterns and discrepancies across school cases to answer our research question (Miles et al., 2020)
Findings
RPPs in rural places in NYS require significant infrastructure to support collaborations as there are few individuals to engage in communications between leaders, teachers, and researchers. In terms of conditions that influence how rural RPPs function in rural spaces, both leader and teacher turnover in rural spaces, while not more frequent than in suburban and urban places, has a disproportionately more negative impact in rural places due to the lack of redundancy across individuals. Regarding RPP goals, the rural RPP participants tend to focus on developing shared leadership structures recommended in the research (Cohen-Vogel et al., 2022) and this is not without challenges to norms that reinforce top-down leadership for change initiatives. Barriers to building and sustaining a healthy RPP in rural places, from this research indicate that rural practicing professionals benefit from high frequency of contact and networked improvement community arrangements with those in their regions.
Significance
As part of NYS’s deepening “Upstate-Downstate divide” (Jordan, 2019), rural school advocates and educators have raised concerns over inequities in opportunities for rural practicing professionals to benefit from sustained collaborations with researchers (Authors). This study underscores the importance of including rural perspectives in RPP research and particularly in relation to what Farrell et al (2022) identify as a key RPP consideration: resources – both financial and human - in rural places.

Authors

• Kristen C. Wilcox, University at Albany - SUNY

• Maria I Khan, University at Albany - SUNY

• Paul Guay, University at Albany - SUNY