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The Positioning of Intermediary Organizations Within Research-Practice Partnerships

Mon, April 16, 4:05 to 6:05pm, New York Hilton Midtown, Floor: Fourth Floor, East Suite

Abstract

Within the field of K-12 public education, collaborative partnerships between research institutions, state and local school systems, and intermediary actors are becoming more prevalent. Intermediaries bring a promising dimension to research-practice partnerships (RPPs) for researchers to explore in the context of school improvement but few studies target how they are positioned within these collaborations. Drawn from a larger dissertation study, this paper provides timely insight about one of these less understood organizations through the lenses of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), positioning theory, and boundary spanning. I use qualitative discourse methods to examine how curriculum developers in one RPP bridged their perspectives on research and practice across institutional boundaries, and reveal the contradictions and tensions that emerged in the process.

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