District-Charter Partnerships in New York City: Uncommon Schools–District Level Collaboration

• In Event: Lessons Learned About Instructional Practice Sharing Between District and Charter Schools

Abstract

Objectives or purposes. This presentation will explore the collaboration between Uncommon Schools (Uncommon) and the NYC Department of Education (DOE), which began in the 2014-2015 school year. With the help of a New York State Dissemination Grant, additional funding from DCP, and philanthropic funding, Uncommon has provided professional development for district teachers and leaders around instructional practices and student engagement, leadership training for principals and principal supervisors through the Relay Graduate School of Education National Principal Academy Fellowship (NPAF), and deep partnerships with individual community districts around instructional practice-sharing. This presentation will reflect on these three years of collaboration efforts. Specifically, it will describe how a partnership between a large charter management organization (CMO) and a large urban school district can be developed, facilitated, and sustained.

Perspective.
Uncommon is committed to sharing best practices, including skills, techniques, and strategies, with practitioners across school sectors. Uncommon believes that educators, schools, and school systems – whether district or charter– are interested in the same things – practical solutions that work, can be performed at scale, are accessible to anyone, and that advance student learning. In service of this belief, they have partnered with educators, schools, and school systems across the country – including the DOE – to share instructional strategies that are transferable to any classroom.

Results. Presenters will share findings that have emerged from their collaboration efforts with the DOE, with a focus on the key components of successful district-CMO collaboration. These key components include:
• Direct points of contact on the district and charter side, who are in key places of authority, are enthusiastic and resourceful, and who trust one another.
• Open and clear communication channels (e.g. regular planning meetings, frequent communication between meetings).
• Clear distribution of roles and responsibilities (e.g. district supports PD recruitment and promotion, CMO develops PD content and coordinates PD logistics).
• Strong relationship building at the central and district level to establish and sustain partnerships.
• Collaborative development of vision, goals and strategy.

Scientific, scholarly, and/or practical significance of the study or work.
This presentation will explore how an instructional practice-sharing partnership between Uncommon and the DOE was developed, implemented, and sustained over time. By doing so, it will provide an example for other school districts and CMOs looking to engage in this work. Additionally, this presentation will add to a growing body of research looking at the essential elements of interschool collaboration (Atkinson et al., 2007; Mattessich & Monsey, 1992; Rincon-Gallardo & Fullan, 2016) by addressing the unique and complicated contextual factors and interpersonal dynamics at play in cross-sector interschool collaboration.

Authors

• Crystal A McQueen-Taylor, Uncommon Schools

• Samantha Tweedy, Uncommon Schools