Advancing PDS Research: Exploring a Collaborative School-University National Research Agenda

• In Event: Initiatives in PDS Research: Leveraging Partnerships to Create Equitable Systems of Education

Abstract

1. Purpose
The Professional Development School (PDS) partnership community is today rich in research. In the decades since its inception by the Holmes Group in 1986 (1986, 1990) empirical studies, historical reviews, and scholarly critiques of the PDS effort (Abdal-Hagg, 1998; Darling-Hammond, 2005; Neapolitan & Berkeley, 2006; Neapolitan, 2011; Breault & Breault, 2012; Snow et al. 2016; Zenkov et al., 2016) have provided the community with a wealth of working knowledge. What is needed at this point in our evolution is a more collaborative and coordinated national effort to strengthen the empirical evidence about the impact of PDSs and advance PDS and School-University Partnership (SUP) research to meet the challenges we now face in American education.

The purpose of this paper is to present and disseminate the framework, process, outcomes and results of a three-day conference designed to advance PDS-SUP research and build an initial national research agenda.
2. Perspective and 3. Method
Funded in part by a grant from AERA, the conference gathered researchers, scholars, and practitioners from different regions of the U.S., representing diverse perspectives and varied domains of inquiry. This group of scholars presented their visions, theories, research and approaches for advancing PDS-SUP research. Employing a “theory of action” perspective, as well as an adapted process-method and approach created by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory (REL-NEI), intense working seminars and plenary sessions were conducted to identify and prioritize promising research strategies, methodologies, topics and questions for a national research agenda – an agenda for a new era of change and equity in American education.
4. Sources and materials
The presentations and papers from the conference served as the sources and materials from which focused discussions and plans of work took shape at the conference. An overview of the papers from the conference as well as records of discussions, resulting documents and plans for future research will be shared during this presentation.
5. Conclusions
The outcomes from the conference were:
• A Collaborative National PDS-SUP Research Agenda including focus areas, priorities, research questions and projects.
• Increased research capacity among conference members.
• A review and enhancement of the Collaborative Report and Rating-Inventory (CoRR-I) Instrument for possible use in PDS/SUP research.
• The strengthening of relationships among members through conference activities.
6. Significance
The overarching goal and significance of this groundbreaking conference was to advance PDS research by creating an initial national research agenda that will not only foster greater multi-site collaboration and coordination among PDS-SUP researchers and practitioners but also lead to improved research in and on PDSs for this new era in American education. In addition, the conference resulted in a proposed book, and formal commitments by conference members and associations to team with one another for conducting a cross regional and/or cross partnership research project. The conference represents a new and innovative approach addressing the need for increased empirical research strength and evidence related to the impacts and effectiveness of PDS-SUPs and their potential to support the cause of equity within the American system of education.

Authors

• Linda A. Catelli, City University of New York - CUNY

• William L. Curlette, Georgia State University

• Gwendolyn T. Benson, Georgia State University