Investigating University-School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, the fourth book in the PDS Research Series developed by the same editors, includes a collection of organized papers that represent the best and latest examples of practitioner thinking, research, and program design and evaluation in the field at the national level. A wide variety of authors from the professional community of PDS researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders engage the reader in research or case studies that foreground real-life, authentic contexts, which, in turn, are designed to generate and fashion more questions and ideas. The volume’s contents of 26 chapters is divided into five areas: (1) PDS Evaluation (2) Teacher Research and Inquiry, (3) PDS Stakeholders’ Studies, (4) Studies for Thought – Ideas for Development, and (5) Teaching Content Areas in PDSs. As a whole, the volume of papers maintains a consistency within a cohesive undercurrent that illustrates the spirited and visionary purpose of professional development schools to advance educational reform that leads to substantive change.

In keeping with the tradition set forth in volumes 1-4, this fifth volume, Creating Visions for University- School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, continues to exemplify current thinking of practitioners and researchers in the field. The range of authors from the Prek-16 arena illustrates the ways in which professional development schools generate possible solutions to the complex problems facing educators. The diversity of their work represents perspectives of classroom teachers, preservice teachers, school leaders, and university faculty who grapple with identifying “ways of knowing” and “ways of doing” that enhance educational outcomes for Prek-12 students while also serving to transform the profession. The volume’s contents of 19 chapters divided into four areas: (1) Clinically Rich Practices (2) PDS Stakeholders’ Perspectives (3) Enriching Content Area Instruction (4) Family Engagement, gives us a more vivid picture of the work that partnerships are doing to fulfill the PDS promise for improving teaching and learning at every level.

Tracing the historical development of partnerships between schools, universities, and communities, P-20 Partnerships: A Critical Examination of the Past and Future provides educators and policymakers with a framework for understanding how partnerships originated and their potential for the future. This book connects Dewey's lab schools, Goodlad's ideas about simultaneous renewal, and Professional Development Schools with today's next-generation P-20 partnerships and Cradle-to-Career networks. After examining the history and development of P-20 partnerships, we are able to categorize partnerships into three different types, depending on the purpose of their outcomes: partnerships to improve P-12 schools, partnerships to improve access to post-secondary opportunities, and Research-Practice Partnerships. Rather than categorizing partnerships by their activities and curricula, this book proposes that their goals for their students are what should define these school systems.

Presenting the work of a highly innovative partnership between the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and eight secondary schools, this book explores this networked learning community which has helped to define the use and production of educational knowledge and research within and between various partners. This book examines the central questions and gives examples of the outcomes of the development that will assist any researchers, especially teachers undertaking research, to develop school-university partnerships. Stories and examples from practitioners and others who worked directly in and with schools are presented throughout the book. It will appeal to a wide audience of practitioners and academics, and to all who are interested in how research and enquiry can be used to support the development of practice in schools.

This dissertation investigates and interprets the implications that PK-12/University partnerships have on various members of a learning community. The College View/Rolling Hills Partnership (a pseudonym) provides the backdrop for this story. Inclusive voice and increased democratic construct provide the lens through which this case is framed. Three research questions comprise the foci of this study: 1. What are the substantive connections and programs established through the partnership? 2. How do students from both the public schools and the university gain from these efforts/programs? 3. How do participants in the wider learning community benefit (or not) from a formalized partnership? This historical case study chronicles the work of the College View/Rolling Hills Partnership using observational data, archival collections of materials, and semi-structured interviews. These interviews reflect the work of the partnership through the eyes of ten key participants and comprise a thorough record of events resulting in a vicarious experience for the reader. The informants' stories are presented in three broad categories: The Visionaries, those who conceptualized the partnership; The Politicians, those who contextualized the partnership; and The Technicians, those who persist through presentation of programming. Six major themes surfaced as common among these three groups of informants: 1. The need to move forward despite past history. 2. The importance of a partnership structure which encompasses interinstitutional work. 3. The critical nature of persistence and resiliency in partnership work. 4. Quality trumps quantity, meaning not all growth is inherently good. 5. Internal and external community building play an important role in partnership work. 6. Relationships are the key to constructing and maintaining quality partnerships.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

"This book highlights partnerships in education and the types of applied research and research approaches that have worked in partnership settings to successfully initiate change and improvement, and that are adaptable to the new circumstances we currently face in American education including highlighting newer emergent approaches in education research that are important in preparing the next generation of research collaborators"--