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Improving America's Schools Together

How District-University Partnerships and Continuous Improvement Can Transform Education

Edited by Louis M. Gomez; Manuelito Biag; David G. Imig; Randy Hitz and Steve Tozer - Foreword by Anthony S. Bryk

Improving America’s Schools Together: How District-University Partnerships and Continuous Improvement Can Transform Education is the first definitive text on continuous improvement in school district-university partnerships, covering improvement methods, theory, research, and real cases across the United States with practical improvement tools that can be adapted to any setting. Through an array of in-depth stories, this book demonstrates how improvement science—as a shared method—can help universities, districts, and schools foster leaders and educators and enhance students’ learning and opportunities.

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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 380 • Trim: 7¼ x 10¼
978-1-5381-7321-3 • Hardback • May 2023 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
978-1-5381-7322-0 • Paperback • May 2023 • $35.00 • (£30.00)
Subjects: Education / Administration / General, Business & Economics / Total Quality Management, Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General, Education / Evaluation & Assessment, Education / Leadership, Education / Administration / School Superintendents & Principals

Contributors

Erin Anderson, Douglas W. Anthony, Cynthia K. Barron, Carole Basile, Michelle M. Beavers, Barnett Berry, Manuelito Biag, Regina Biggs, Anthony S. Bryk, Susan P. Carlile, Charoscar Coleman, Diana Cornejo-Sanchez, Shelby Cosner, Kathleen M. W. Cunningham, Kris DeFilippis, Mark E. Deschaine, Felice Desouza, David Eddy-Spicer, Segun Eubanks, Christina Flesher, Louis M. Gomez, Betsy Hargrove, Brian Harvey, Marni Herrington, Zipporah Hightower, Randy Hitz, David G. Imig, Janice Jackson, Julia Jacobsen, Sandra Lochhead, Peter Martinez, David Mayrowetz, Tania McKey, Kara Miley-Libby, Peter Moyi, Christine M. Neumerski, Margaret Terry Orr, Deborah S. Peterson, Meisha Porter, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Natasha Saunders, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Claire Silva, Jean Snell, Denise A. Soares, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Nicole L. Thompson, Steve Tozer, Samantha Viano, Sam Whalen, Tinkhani Ushe White, Paige Whitlock, Paul Zavitkovsky

About the Editors

Louis M. Gomez works to help educators take a new perspective on design and educational improvement by catalyzing long-term, cooperative initiatives. The work gains its power through highly focused collaboratives called Networked Improvement Communities. He is a Professor of Education (and Information Studies) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 2008 he has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Gomez received a B.A. degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from UC Berkeley.

Manuelito Biag currently serves as the managing director of the Center for Postsecondary Innovation at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In this role, he leads an international portfolio of projects aimed at increasing students' social and economic mobility. He also serves as senior associate and provides instruction, coaching, and research support in the area of networked improvement science. Prior, he served as senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Biag earned a Ph.D. in education policy from UC Davis.

David Imig holds emeritus status from the Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership program at the University of Maryland at College Park. He served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) from 1980-2005. He is past chair of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration and the National Society for the Study of Education. He helped to establish the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), serving as chair of the Board of Directors from 2010-2020. He serves as a senior fellow for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He holds three academic degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an honorary doctorate from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers in the UK.

Randy Hitz is Dean Emeritus of the College of Education at Portland State University. His higher education administrative experience spans three decades and includes dean positions at Portland State, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Montana State University. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching where he has been part of the iLEAD project for five years. Hitz served as Chair of the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education and he chaired the Council for Accreditation of Education Professionals (CAEP) Commission as well as participating on CAEP’s Board of Directors. He earned a Ph.D. from Indiana State University.

Steve Tozer is Professor emeritus and past university scholar in educational policy studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he was the founding director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership. His collaborations with colleagues from UIC and Chicago Public Schools were continuously funded for 18 years by numerous foundations and the US Department of Education. He is the lead author of a textbook, School and Society, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 8th Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2020), and lead editor of The Handbook of Research in Social Foundations of Education (Routledge, 2011). Tozer earned his Ph.D. in educational policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Acknowledgments

Foreword

(Anthony Bryk)

Introduction: Getting to Mutual–Benefit Partnerships

(Louis M. Gomez and Manuelito Biag)

Navigating the Tangles of Inter–Organizational Work

“It Takes a Village” to Redress Inequities

The Improvement Leadership Education and Development (iLEAD) Network

Social Learning Theory and Culture

Moving Beyond Transactional Relationships

Trading Zones and Boundary Objects

iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions Framework as a Boundary Object

The Desiderata to Sustain Trading Zones

Continuous Improvement

Equity

Coordination

Capacity Building

Conclusion

References

Contents

SECTION I: IMPROVEMENT METHODS, EQUITY, AND PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE IN LOCAL CONTEXT

1 Braiding Improvement into the Fabric of District Leadership Preparation and Practice: University of Virginia and Chesterfield County Public Schools

(David Eddy-Spicer, Tinkhani Ushe White, and Michelle Beavers)

Partnership Context

University of Virginia

Chesterfield County Public Schools

An Educational Leadership Preparation Partnership Emerges

The “Improvement Sandwich”: Cooperation into Coordination

CCPS Strand: Focus on Programmatic Equity and School Improvement Planning

UVA Strand: Redesigning the M.Ed. Program

  • Field–Based Learning as Boundary Infrastructure

Securing the Braid: Coordination into Collaboration

Deepening Coordination Across School Levels and With Central Office in CCPS

  • Collaborating across School Levels in CCPS
  • Collaboration in Teaching and Learning at UVA

Results: Organizational Practice and Partnership

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

CCPS Lessons Learned

  • From Professional Development to Intrapreneurial Collective Learning

UVA Lessons Learned

  • A&S Faculty Collective Learning

Partnership Lessons Learned: Co-Development of Leadership Pedagogies

Essential Lessons of Partnership Work

Questions for Discussion

References

2 A University–School District Collaboration to Improve Equity– and Inquiry–Driven School Leadership: Fordham University and Bronx School Districts 9 and 11

(Margaret Terry Orr, Kris DeFilippis, Meisha Porter and Elizabeth Leisy Stosich)

Context

Problem

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

Development

Advanced Leadership Preparation

  • Redesigning Fordham’s EdD Program
  • Creating a Bronx EdD Cohort in Equity–Focused Improvement Science

Leadership Development

  • Assistant Principal Math Networked Improvement Community
  • Creating Positive Change through the Bronx Academic Response Team Initiative
  • Principal Equity Improvement Networked Improvement Communities

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

Questions for Discussion

References

3 Moving a Partnership from Itinerant to Integral: Using Improvement Science as a Catalyst for Change in Leadership Preparation & Induction: George Mason University and Fairfax County Public Schools

(Samantha Viano, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Regina Biggs, Natasha Saunders, Claire Silva, and Paige Whitlock)

Context

EDLE Program at GMU

FCPS

FCPS and GMU Partnering Prior to iLEAD

Joining Together as iLEAD Partners

Problems

Stagnant Progress on School Improvement

Mismatch Between EDLE Leadership Preparation and FCPS Practice

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

Improvement Science as Our Catalyzing Agent to Come Together

Making Improvement Science EDLE’s Signature Pedagogy

EDLE Faculty’s Introduction to Improvement Science

Commitment to Improvement Science through Curriculum Development

Diverse Approaches to Supporting the Use of Improvement Science in FCPS

Professional Development Opportunities

School–Based Leadership Induction

Title I Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Our Partnership Driven Initiative: Piloting an Improvement Science Approach to School Improvement

Phase 1: Cultivating Cultures of Continuous Improvement, 2019–20 School Year

Phase 2: Redressing Inequities, 2020–21 School Year

Phase 3: Spreading What Works, 2021–22 School Year

Showcasing Our Joint Efforts

Synergy between Leadership Preparation and School Improvement

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

Starting with a Foundational Relationship to Build upon

Garner Immediate Excitement about Improvement Science

Leverage Eagerness and Capacity to Make Time for Collaboration

Concluding Thoughts

Attending to the Mission of our Partnership Work

Questions for Discussion

References

4 Using Improvement Science Principles for New–Teacher Support: High Tech High and High Tech High Graduate School of Education

(Julia Jacobsen and Diana Cornejo-Sanchez)

Context

High Tech High & the High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Problems

Induction as a Lever for Teacher Retention

Experimenting with Improvement in Teacher Induction

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

Challenge #1: Entry Planning that Incorporates Continuous Improvement

  • Root Cause Analysis
  • Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles
  • Sharing Learning

Challenge #2: Operating in a One–Year Time Frame

Challenge #3: Developing the Capacity of Improvement Coaches

  • Deficit Thinking
  • Compliance Orientation
  • Improving Coach Development
  • Facilitating Continuous Improvement for Equity
  • Induction Improvement Coach Summit
  • Impact

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

CI Can Be an Effective Framework for Adaptive Learning

The Importance of Improvement Science in our own Program Processes

Developing New Organizational Capacity for Continuous Improvement

Teachable Moments

How Might Improvement Processes Foster Connection and Belonging?

How Can Both the Process and the Outcome of Improvement Efforts Support Equity?

How Can We Develop Sustainable Improvement Efforts?

How Can Improvement Science Help Organizations Grow Toward a Common Mission and Develop Concrete Understandings?

Questions for Discussion

References

SECTION II: A NEW KIND OF PARTNERSHIP: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AS AN ANIMATING FORCE

5 From a Transactional Relationship to a Transformational Partnership: University of Maryland College Park and Prince George’s County Public Schools

(Primary authors: Segun Eubanks and Jean Snell; Additional contributors: Doug Anthony, Charoscar Coleman, Felice Desouza, Kara Miley-Libby, and Christine M. Neumerski)

Context

Not Your Father’s MOU

The Back Story: People Building Trust, Institutions Leading Change

  • A Change in Perspective
  • PGCPS Initiates a Catalyst for Change—the EdD in School System Leadership
  • UMD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: The CEii
  • iLEAD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: Getting to the Work of Improvement
  • Getting to Work: Our First Problem of Practice

Problems

A Shared Problem of Practice: Putting the “Improvement” in the School Improvement Process

Leveraging the New Strategic Plan

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

Improvement Science as a Shared Methodology and “Solution”

  • The Partnership “Solution” to the Challenge of District Capacity Building with SPPing

Looking Forward to Future Work: The Launch of 2 Partnership Networked Improvement Communities

Showing Evidence of Partnership Impact

  • Evidence of Engagement and Commitment is Strong and Growing
  • Growth in the iLEAD Developmental Progressions
  • Emerging Data of Change in Systems Practice

Lessons Learned

Key Learning #1: Building Strong Relationships is the Starting Point

Key Learning #2: Focus on Problems of Practice and Stay Prepared for Change

Teachable Moments

You’re Not Really Married if You Don’t Have the Paper

Adapt, Don’t Abandon

Shifts Happen

Just Do Something

References

6 Redesigning School Staffing Models through Team–Based Residencies: Arizona State University and Avondale Elementary School District

(Betsy Hargrove, Christina Flesher, Nicole L. Thompson and Carole Basile)

The Next Education Workforce: A Growing Idea

Context: MLFTC and AESD Partnership

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence–Based Teacher Preparation

Challenges for AESD

Changes and Vision at MLFTC

A Renewed Partnership

Serendipity and Early Models

Improvement Science: Planning, Doing, Studying Acting

  • Residents
  • Lead Teachers
  • Site Lead
  • Instructional Configurations
  • Studying the Innovative Approach

Lessons Learned

Invested and Involved Leadership

Systems and Structures

Challenges of Teams

Developmental Progressions and Growth in Collaboration

Characteristics of Successful Teams

Conclusion

Afterword: Beyond Teacher Preparation

Questions for Discussion

References

7 District-University Partnerships for Continuous Improvement: How Can UM Help?: University of Mississippi and Oxford School District

(Denise A. Soares, Mark E. Deschaine, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Marni Harrington and Brian Harvey)

Context: Beginning the Partnership Work

The Achievement Gap Project

Chronic Absenteeism PDSA Cycle

Plan

Do

Study

Act

Building Capacity

Spread and Scale Progress

OSD Improvement Science Problems of Practice

Passion Professional Development PDSA Cycle

  • Plan
  • Do
  • Study
  • Act

Youth Truth Survey PDSA Cycle

  • Plan
  • Do
  • Study
  • Act

UM–SOE Improvement Science Problems of Practice

Graduate Studies Office PDSA Cycle

  • Plan
  • Do
  • Study
  • Act

UM–SOE Dean’s Office Staff PDSA Cycle

  • Plan
  • Do
  • Study
  • Act

UM–Developmental Progression

The “How” of Partnerships (Partnership Mechanisms)

Expectations, Sustainability, Norms & Routines

Vision for the Future

NCSUP Mission

Lessons Learned

Questions for Discussion

References

8 Equity–Focused Improvement Science: Portland State University and Portland Public Schools

(Susan P. Carlile, Deborah S. Peterson (co-first authors) and Tania McKey)

Key Leaders

Professor of Practice Susan Carlile

Associate Professor Emerita Dr. Deborah S. Peterson

Assistant Professor and Senior Director of Humanities Dr. Tania McKey

Context of the PSU–PPS Partnership

Portland State University

Portland Public Schools

Chronology of Improvement Science Efforts

Networked Improvement Communities

Partner Districts

Newberg School District (NSD)

Changes in the Partnership with the Newberg School District

The New District Partnership: Portland Public Schools

Challenges and Solutions

Tools to Identify Next Steps

Progress (Strengths) at the Partnership Level

Progress (Strengths) at PPS

Progress (Strengths) at the PSU Level

Areas of Focus (Challenges) at the Partnership Level

Areas of Focus (Challenges) in PPS

Area of Focus (Challenge) in PSU

Contextual Complexities

Theory of Improvement

Program Redesign

Redesign PPS Practices for Principal Support

Hire Scholarly Practitioners as Principal Preparation Cohort Leaders

PPS Hires PSU Principal Licensure Completers

Lessons Learned

Next Steps

Conclusion

Questions for Discussion

References

SECTION III: PARTNERSHIPS AIN’T EASY: LEARNING FROM SHORT–TERM EFFORTS AND LONG–TERM SUSTAINABILITY

9 Shared Goals, Methods, and Learning: Partnering for Equity-focused, Systems-level Improvement: University of Denver and Denver Public Schools

(Erin Anderson and Sandra Lochhead)

Context

Problem

District Context

Sustainable Improvement in the District

Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

Shared Goals: Embedded Process Over External Program

  • Where Did We Start?
  • What Steps Happened along the Way?
  • Where Are We Now?

Shared Methodology: The Design Improvement for Equity (DI4E) Model

  • Where Did We Start?
  • What Steps Happened Along the Way?
  • Where Are We Now?

Shared Learning: Shared Research Agenda in a Research–Practice Partnership

  • Where Did We Start?
  • What Steps Happened Along the Way?
  • Where Are We Now?

Summary of Impact

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

Lesson 1: Be Clear About your “Why”—Your North Star Guides the Way

Lesson 2: Create a Shared Theory of Improvement for your Partnership Work and Use It as a Map to Reach your Destination

Lesson 3: Interdependence Was Essential to the Partnership and to Increasing Equity in the System

Lesson 4: Be Disciplined about a Shared Learning Agenda or Research Plan

Lesson 5: Despite Shared Values, Norms, and Goals, There Are Still Organizational Values and Conditions That Will Limit Systems Change

Questions for Discussion

References

10 Organizational Changes’ Impacts on University-District Partnership Development: University of South Carolina and K-12 School District in South Carolina

(Kathleen M.W. Cunningham, Peter Moyi, and Barnett Berry)

Context

University of South Carolina College of Education

  • Myrtle Creek School District

The Partnership Between CoE/EDLP and MCSD

Developing and Sustaining a District-University Partnership

Two Partnership Frameworks: iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions and the Stage Model

  • Developmental Progressions (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2020)
  • Stage Model (Trubowitz, 1986)

Partnership Journey

  • Improvement Work Begins
  • Establishment of a Core Improvement Team

Organizational Progress: Partnership

Organizational Progress: USC (i.e., CoE and EDLP)

Challenges

Challenge 1: Multiple, Evolving Goals

Challenge 2: Logistics (Distance, Funding, Time–Competing Priorities)

Challenge 3: Personnel and Leadership Transitions

Challenge 4: COVID-19 Pandemic

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

Consideration 1: Clearly Defined Goals and Expectations

Consideration 2: Core Partnership Team with Consistent Membership, Leadership, and Active Commitment

Consideration 3: Lean on a Continuous Improvement Mindset to Reflect and Learn

Questions for Discussion

References

11Preparing Principals for Urban Schools: The Challenge of Equitable Outcomes at Scale: University of Illinois Chicago and Chicago Public Schools

(Steve Tozer, Peter Martinez, Cynthia K. Barron, Shelby Cosner, Zipporah Hightower, Janice Jackson, David Mayrowetz, Sam Whalen, and Paul Zavitkovsky)

Partnership Context: Chicago School Reform and UIC’s “Urban Mission”

Chicago School Reform and State Legislation

The Principal Preparation Program Design and Re-design: 11 Key Components

Impact of Program Design and Re-design

“We Want to Be as Good as People Think We Are”

Using the Developmental Progressions to Tell the CPS/UIC Partnership Story

From MOU to Vendor Contract

A Missing Objective?

Preparation of CPS Principal Supervisors (Network Chiefs) and Central Office Personnel

A Next Edge of Growth

Developing Capacity as a District Partner: the UIC EdD Program

Elaborations and Qualifications on the IHE Narrative

Vision, Systems, and Above All, People

Our First Targeted Program Hire

Building the Team

Leadership Coaches as Boundary Spanners

Creating “Boundary Objects”

Next Edges of Growth

Need for New Resources

How Did the District Sustain Its Share of the Partnership for 20 Years across Nine CEOs?

Conclusions and Lessons Learned

1. Equity

2. Partnership

3. Leadership Development: Vision, Systems, and People

4. Continuous Improvement

Questions for Discussion

References

Conclusion:Evolving Tethers that Bind School District to University

(Louis M. Gomez and Manuelito Biag)

Tightly Tethered Mutuality

Attending to the How of Partnerships

The Role of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Building a Strong Field: Infrastructure that Recasts Partnerships

Creating Social Infrastructure for Collective Action

Looking Forward: The Sustainability of Mutually Beneficial Partnerships for Leadership and Continuous Improvement

References

Reference

Index

About the Contributors

This volume brings together a dream author team—a mix of scholars and scholarly professionals with complementary research and practice-based expertise who have figured out how to work productively together in research-practice partnerships. Their contributions provide inspiration and concrete guidance for educational leaders in schools, districts, and institutions of higher education. The rich cases of higher education–school district partnership reveal innovative structures and collaborative practices that enable joint work to build capacity for continuous improvement in service of creating more effective and equitable systems. For all these reasons and more, this book is on the cutting edge of the continuous improvement movement in education and is a must-read for educators seeking to transform U.S. education and create equitable learning opportunities for students.


— Jennifer Lin Russell, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University


Leaders in public and higher education are facing unprecedented calls to advance quality and equity in students’ educational opportunities and outcomes. This volume provides remarkable perspective on the power of districts and universities learning together—in partnerships and in community—to do more, for more students, than either could possibly do on their own. It serves as both a call and a blueprint for action, with the contributing authors inviting district and university leaders to follow in their footsteps to forge institutional change.


— Donald J. Peurach, Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan


What excites me about this edited volume is that it provides illustrations of partnerships that are making an impact in education! It exists as a useful tool for individuals seeking images of the possible in co-designing and co-implementing partnerships that work. And, ultimately, it demonstrates the power of collaboration—that the future of education is through partnership, by tackling persistent problems of practice together. It shows that schools and universities are truly better together.


— Rebecca West Burns, Bill Herrold Endowed Professor, director of Clinical Practice and Educational Partnerships, College of Education and Human Services, University of North Florida


These cases provide wonderful, concrete examples of how district-university partnerships for continuous improvement can benefit both school districts and schools of education. Anyone interested in engaging in such partnerships should read this book, especially to identify the benefits, but also to get a sense of the challenges such partnerships face.


— William Firestone, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education (retired)


Gomez, Biag, Imig, Tozer, and Hitz bring together powerful examples of how—through thoughtful and deliberate continuous improvement processes—partnerships can be formed to address complex problems of practice in our schools. This text will quickly become a go-to guide for those seeking to engage in equity-focused and contextually relevant collaborations designed to address public school challenges and to develop sustainable and impactful solutions.


— Karen L. Sanzo, Old Dominion University


This book contains cases of district-university partnerships anchored in continuous improvement tools and methods. The book shows how those partnerships formed, catalyzed, integrated efforts, and facilitated organizational change. The multi-case approach is invaluable as a teaching resource because it enables learning conversations and coaching practice.


— Ben Cooper, California State University, Fullerton


This text is full of pragmatic and versatile lessons on continuous improvement in education. I'm not a believer in 'one size fits all' methodologies, so improvement science cannot be a panacea to all education research initiatives. But where evaluation and other important traditional social science research methods stop short of actually fixing problems, improvement science can indeed transform practice through innovation, collaboration, and learning from data. The book covers a variety of common and unique education problems as well as how the continuous-improvement paradigm can be applied in context. Just as healthcare and other vital human service fields have embraced it, education must as well.


— Dane Joseph, George Fox University


The idea that school district-university partnerships for educator preparation should be mutually-beneficial is almost universally acknowledged, but often poorly articulated by practitioners when asked to provide evidence of such a partnership. If you’ve wondered what 'mutually beneficial and co-constructed partnerships' look like in practice and how they can be authentic and sustainable over time, this book is for you. With one fell swoop, it silences those resistant to change who wield the argument that 'it can't happen here' as their justification for not innovating.


— Sean Kottke, PhD, Office of Educator Excellence, Michigan Department of Education


Blending the expertise of researchers and practitioners with the use of case studies, this book will be valuable for universities and school districts who want to deepen their partnership work and to see what this work looks like ‘in real life.’


— Corrie Stone-Johnson, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; editor-in-chief, Journal of Educational Change


This volume brings together a number of the most important applied thinkers and doers about complex education partnerships active today. The editors are seasoned education researchers who also share an extensive background with using improvement science. Their necessary communication to co-create this volume has proven to be highly generative with each pushing the next to new insights shared and needed detail added, to the benefit of the reader.


— Edmund "Ted" Hamann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; chair, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Council of Delegates; AERA Fellow


This text provides examples of how IHEs can move to research partnerships instead of coming in and doing research on a particular problem and having the school’s main function be as a participant. I highly recommend this text for school districts and institutions of higher education that want to form a partnership through the lens of improvement science. All IHEs should be training their candidates in school district administration on improvement science and how forming these partnerships not only improve outcomes for students in schools but also create equitable leaders that will be transforming schools and communities in which they are employed.


— Tori L. Colson, EdD, University of Southern Indiana


This important text provides a multifaceted examination and discussion of partnerships between PK–12 school districts and universities using real life examples from existing impactful partnerships across the US. The stories and lessons shared in each chapter can serve as a blueprint for others interested in forming similar partnerships with the aim of transforming their surrounding PK–12 educational community.


— Christopher Benedetti, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi


University-district partnerships have been hot topics for many years now. Many funding organizations look for this kind of partnership to ensure that research is done with and for Local Education Agencies (LEAs), versus being done on them. Improving America's Schools Together supports those who want to build partnership with universities or LEAs with some 'how to' information. Partnerships are not easy. However, this book demonstrates how improvement science is a rigorous but user-friendly way to get all stakeholders on the same page to do research in the name of making schools better. It showcases the tools of improvement, one of which is the charter—a formal, co-constructed document that establishes the partnership. Such tools offer the reader an understanding of what building a partnership looks like and what is needed to sustain it in different contexts with different foci. Each case is co-written by a university faculty member and educational practitioner, which supports the notion of university-district partnerships and decolonizes who owns and produces knowledge. This book is a useful contribution to practitioners—both K–12 and university—as they consider venturing into similar work.


— Jill A. Perry, PhD, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate


This book is a two for one—it discusses improving the content of the leadership development programs as well as the outcomes of the school-university partnerships required to make leadership development effective. What’s unique about this book is the discussion of improving leadership development and partnership using improvement science methods. The authors have actively used the methods discussed and have engaged in the partnerships themselves. I especially appreciate their documentation of iLEAD, an important effort to strengthening university-school district partnerships focused on leadership development. I highly recommend this book for people working in on improvement in the field of education from both practice and research roles and organizations.


— Laura Wentworth, director of research practice partnerships, California Education Partners


This book captures multiple stories of how institutions of higher education can come alongside school districts to tackle complex problems of practice. Each case provides insight into how diverse actors and partners negotiate and engage in the trading zones and boundaries of policies, practices, programs, and processes to reimagine how we continuously improve schools but how we prepare educators and educational leaders to lead and work together.


— Edwin Nii Bonney, Radford University


Here’s a must-read volume for those building new disruptive relationships between IHEs and LEAs. Case studies tell examples of intentional, sustainable partnerships. They are held together through the mutual use of and belief in improvement science and continuous improvement; a leadership network; and efforts to develop mutualism through boundary spanners and braiders. Don’t miss the excellent introduction by Tony Bryk and the conclusion by Louis Gomez.


— John Q. Easton, University of Chicago, UChicago Consortium on School Research


This text is compelling in that it presents both varied, well-documented examples of effective, enduring partnerships and also provides a concise and clear conceptual framework for those cases. Readers seeking to evaluate or create similar inter-institutional partnerships have the proof of concept and the conceptual guidance needed to do so. At the same time—and this is crucial—the framework does not float above the particulars, but rather it starts from the premise that context matters as the foundation for successful joint work. It is both an ideal leadership and policy course text and a very practical guide for those involved in the work of partnerships.


— Mark LaCelle-Peterson, president and CEO, Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation


Visit the companion website for supplementary resources and chapter appendices: https://textbooks.rowman.com/gomez-improving



Improving America's Schools Together

How District-University Partnerships and Continuous Improvement Can Transform Education

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • Improving America’s Schools Together: How District-University Partnerships and Continuous Improvement Can Transform Education is the first definitive text on continuous improvement in school district-university partnerships, covering improvement methods, theory, research, and real cases across the United States with practical improvement tools that can be adapted to any setting. Through an array of in-depth stories, this book demonstrates how improvement science—as a shared method—can help universities, districts, and schools foster leaders and educators and enhance students’ learning and opportunities.

Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 380 • Trim: 7¼ x 10¼
    978-1-5381-7321-3 • Hardback • May 2023 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
    978-1-5381-7322-0 • Paperback • May 2023 • $35.00 • (£30.00)
    Subjects: Education / Administration / General, Business & Economics / Total Quality Management, Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General, Education / Evaluation & Assessment, Education / Leadership, Education / Administration / School Superintendents & Principals
Author
Author
  • Contributors

    Erin Anderson, Douglas W. Anthony, Cynthia K. Barron, Carole Basile, Michelle M. Beavers, Barnett Berry, Manuelito Biag, Regina Biggs, Anthony S. Bryk, Susan P. Carlile, Charoscar Coleman, Diana Cornejo-Sanchez, Shelby Cosner, Kathleen M. W. Cunningham, Kris DeFilippis, Mark E. Deschaine, Felice Desouza, David Eddy-Spicer, Segun Eubanks, Christina Flesher, Louis M. Gomez, Betsy Hargrove, Brian Harvey, Marni Herrington, Zipporah Hightower, Randy Hitz, David G. Imig, Janice Jackson, Julia Jacobsen, Sandra Lochhead, Peter Martinez, David Mayrowetz, Tania McKey, Kara Miley-Libby, Peter Moyi, Christine M. Neumerski, Margaret Terry Orr, Deborah S. Peterson, Meisha Porter, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Natasha Saunders, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Claire Silva, Jean Snell, Denise A. Soares, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Nicole L. Thompson, Steve Tozer, Samantha Viano, Sam Whalen, Tinkhani Ushe White, Paige Whitlock, Paul Zavitkovsky

    About the Editors

    Louis M. Gomez works to help educators take a new perspective on design and educational improvement by catalyzing long-term, cooperative initiatives. The work gains its power through highly focused collaboratives called Networked Improvement Communities. He is a Professor of Education (and Information Studies) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 2008 he has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Gomez received a B.A. degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from UC Berkeley.

    Manuelito Biag currently serves as the managing director of the Center for Postsecondary Innovation at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In this role, he leads an international portfolio of projects aimed at increasing students' social and economic mobility. He also serves as senior associate and provides instruction, coaching, and research support in the area of networked improvement science. Prior, he served as senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Biag earned a Ph.D. in education policy from UC Davis.

    David Imig holds emeritus status from the Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership program at the University of Maryland at College Park. He served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) from 1980-2005. He is past chair of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration and the National Society for the Study of Education. He helped to establish the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), serving as chair of the Board of Directors from 2010-2020. He serves as a senior fellow for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He holds three academic degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an honorary doctorate from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers in the UK.

    Randy Hitz is Dean Emeritus of the College of Education at Portland State University. His higher education administrative experience spans three decades and includes dean positions at Portland State, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Montana State University. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching where he has been part of the iLEAD project for five years. Hitz served as Chair of the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education and he chaired the Council for Accreditation of Education Professionals (CAEP) Commission as well as participating on CAEP’s Board of Directors. He earned a Ph.D. from Indiana State University.

    Steve Tozer is Professor emeritus and past university scholar in educational policy studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he was the founding director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership. His collaborations with colleagues from UIC and Chicago Public Schools were continuously funded for 18 years by numerous foundations and the US Department of Education. He is the lead author of a textbook, School and Society, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 8th Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2020), and lead editor of The Handbook of Research in Social Foundations of Education (Routledge, 2011). Tozer earned his Ph.D. in educational policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments

    Foreword

    (Anthony Bryk)

    Introduction: Getting to Mutual–Benefit Partnerships

    (Louis M. Gomez and Manuelito Biag)

    Navigating the Tangles of Inter–Organizational Work

    “It Takes a Village” to Redress Inequities

    The Improvement Leadership Education and Development (iLEAD) Network

    Social Learning Theory and Culture

    Moving Beyond Transactional Relationships

    Trading Zones and Boundary Objects

    iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions Framework as a Boundary Object

    The Desiderata to Sustain Trading Zones

    Continuous Improvement

    Equity

    Coordination

    Capacity Building

    Conclusion

    References

    Contents

    SECTION I: IMPROVEMENT METHODS, EQUITY, AND PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE IN LOCAL CONTEXT

    1 Braiding Improvement into the Fabric of District Leadership Preparation and Practice: University of Virginia and Chesterfield County Public Schools

    (David Eddy-Spicer, Tinkhani Ushe White, and Michelle Beavers)

    Partnership Context

    University of Virginia

    Chesterfield County Public Schools

    An Educational Leadership Preparation Partnership Emerges

    The “Improvement Sandwich”: Cooperation into Coordination

    CCPS Strand: Focus on Programmatic Equity and School Improvement Planning

    UVA Strand: Redesigning the M.Ed. Program

    • Field–Based Learning as Boundary Infrastructure

    Securing the Braid: Coordination into Collaboration

    Deepening Coordination Across School Levels and With Central Office in CCPS

    • Collaborating across School Levels in CCPS
    • Collaboration in Teaching and Learning at UVA

    Results: Organizational Practice and Partnership

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    CCPS Lessons Learned

    • From Professional Development to Intrapreneurial Collective Learning

    UVA Lessons Learned

    • A&S Faculty Collective Learning

    Partnership Lessons Learned: Co-Development of Leadership Pedagogies

    Essential Lessons of Partnership Work

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    2 A University–School District Collaboration to Improve Equity– and Inquiry–Driven School Leadership: Fordham University and Bronx School Districts 9 and 11

    (Margaret Terry Orr, Kris DeFilippis, Meisha Porter and Elizabeth Leisy Stosich)

    Context

    Problem

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

    Development

    Advanced Leadership Preparation

    • Redesigning Fordham’s EdD Program
    • Creating a Bronx EdD Cohort in Equity–Focused Improvement Science

    Leadership Development

    • Assistant Principal Math Networked Improvement Community
    • Creating Positive Change through the Bronx Academic Response Team Initiative
    • Principal Equity Improvement Networked Improvement Communities

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    3 Moving a Partnership from Itinerant to Integral: Using Improvement Science as a Catalyst for Change in Leadership Preparation & Induction: George Mason University and Fairfax County Public Schools

    (Samantha Viano, Farnoosh Shahrokhi, Regina Biggs, Natasha Saunders, Claire Silva, and Paige Whitlock)

    Context

    EDLE Program at GMU

    FCPS

    FCPS and GMU Partnering Prior to iLEAD

    Joining Together as iLEAD Partners

    Problems

    Stagnant Progress on School Improvement

    Mismatch Between EDLE Leadership Preparation and FCPS Practice

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

    Improvement Science as Our Catalyzing Agent to Come Together

    Making Improvement Science EDLE’s Signature Pedagogy

    EDLE Faculty’s Introduction to Improvement Science

    Commitment to Improvement Science through Curriculum Development

    Diverse Approaches to Supporting the Use of Improvement Science in FCPS

    Professional Development Opportunities

    School–Based Leadership Induction

    Title I Comprehensive Needs Assessment

    Our Partnership Driven Initiative: Piloting an Improvement Science Approach to School Improvement

    Phase 1: Cultivating Cultures of Continuous Improvement, 2019–20 School Year

    Phase 2: Redressing Inequities, 2020–21 School Year

    Phase 3: Spreading What Works, 2021–22 School Year

    Showcasing Our Joint Efforts

    Synergy between Leadership Preparation and School Improvement

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    Starting with a Foundational Relationship to Build upon

    Garner Immediate Excitement about Improvement Science

    Leverage Eagerness and Capacity to Make Time for Collaboration

    Concluding Thoughts

    Attending to the Mission of our Partnership Work

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    4 Using Improvement Science Principles for New–Teacher Support: High Tech High and High Tech High Graduate School of Education

    (Julia Jacobsen and Diana Cornejo-Sanchez)

    Context

    High Tech High & the High Tech High Graduate School of Education

    Problems

    Induction as a Lever for Teacher Retention

    Experimenting with Improvement in Teacher Induction

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

    Challenge #1: Entry Planning that Incorporates Continuous Improvement

    • Root Cause Analysis
    • Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles
    • Sharing Learning

    Challenge #2: Operating in a One–Year Time Frame

    Challenge #3: Developing the Capacity of Improvement Coaches

    • Deficit Thinking
    • Compliance Orientation
    • Improving Coach Development
    • Facilitating Continuous Improvement for Equity
    • Induction Improvement Coach Summit
    • Impact

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    CI Can Be an Effective Framework for Adaptive Learning

    The Importance of Improvement Science in our own Program Processes

    Developing New Organizational Capacity for Continuous Improvement

    Teachable Moments

    How Might Improvement Processes Foster Connection and Belonging?

    How Can Both the Process and the Outcome of Improvement Efforts Support Equity?

    How Can We Develop Sustainable Improvement Efforts?

    How Can Improvement Science Help Organizations Grow Toward a Common Mission and Develop Concrete Understandings?

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    SECTION II: A NEW KIND OF PARTNERSHIP: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AS AN ANIMATING FORCE

    5 From a Transactional Relationship to a Transformational Partnership: University of Maryland College Park and Prince George’s County Public Schools

    (Primary authors: Segun Eubanks and Jean Snell; Additional contributors: Doug Anthony, Charoscar Coleman, Felice Desouza, Kara Miley-Libby, and Christine M. Neumerski)

    Context

    Not Your Father’s MOU

    The Back Story: People Building Trust, Institutions Leading Change

    • A Change in Perspective
    • PGCPS Initiates a Catalyst for Change—the EdD in School System Leadership
    • UMD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: The CEii
    • iLEAD Initiates a Catalyst for Change: Getting to the Work of Improvement
    • Getting to Work: Our First Problem of Practice

    Problems

    A Shared Problem of Practice: Putting the “Improvement” in the School Improvement Process

    Leveraging the New Strategic Plan

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

    Improvement Science as a Shared Methodology and “Solution”

    • The Partnership “Solution” to the Challenge of District Capacity Building with SPPing

    Looking Forward to Future Work: The Launch of 2 Partnership Networked Improvement Communities

    Showing Evidence of Partnership Impact

    • Evidence of Engagement and Commitment is Strong and Growing
    • Growth in the iLEAD Developmental Progressions
    • Emerging Data of Change in Systems Practice

    Lessons Learned

    Key Learning #1: Building Strong Relationships is the Starting Point

    Key Learning #2: Focus on Problems of Practice and Stay Prepared for Change

    Teachable Moments

    You’re Not Really Married if You Don’t Have the Paper

    Adapt, Don’t Abandon

    Shifts Happen

    Just Do Something

    References

    6 Redesigning School Staffing Models through Team–Based Residencies: Arizona State University and Avondale Elementary School District

    (Betsy Hargrove, Christina Flesher, Nicole L. Thompson and Carole Basile)

    The Next Education Workforce: A Growing Idea

    Context: MLFTC and AESD Partnership

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence–Based Teacher Preparation

    Challenges for AESD

    Changes and Vision at MLFTC

    A Renewed Partnership

    Serendipity and Early Models

    Improvement Science: Planning, Doing, Studying Acting

    • Residents
    • Lead Teachers
    • Site Lead
    • Instructional Configurations
    • Studying the Innovative Approach

    Lessons Learned

    Invested and Involved Leadership

    Systems and Structures

    Challenges of Teams

    Developmental Progressions and Growth in Collaboration

    Characteristics of Successful Teams

    Conclusion

    Afterword: Beyond Teacher Preparation

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    7 District-University Partnerships for Continuous Improvement: How Can UM Help?: University of Mississippi and Oxford School District

    (Denise A. Soares, Mark E. Deschaine, W. Bradley Roberson, David Rock, Marni Harrington and Brian Harvey)

    Context: Beginning the Partnership Work

    The Achievement Gap Project

    Chronic Absenteeism PDSA Cycle

    Plan

    Do

    Study

    Act

    Building Capacity

    Spread and Scale Progress

    OSD Improvement Science Problems of Practice

    Passion Professional Development PDSA Cycle

    • Plan
    • Do
    • Study
    • Act

    Youth Truth Survey PDSA Cycle

    • Plan
    • Do
    • Study
    • Act

    UM–SOE Improvement Science Problems of Practice

    Graduate Studies Office PDSA Cycle

    • Plan
    • Do
    • Study
    • Act

    UM–SOE Dean’s Office Staff PDSA Cycle

    • Plan
    • Do
    • Study
    • Act

    UM–Developmental Progression

    The “How” of Partnerships (Partnership Mechanisms)

    Expectations, Sustainability, Norms & Routines

    Vision for the Future

    NCSUP Mission

    Lessons Learned

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    8 Equity–Focused Improvement Science: Portland State University and Portland Public Schools

    (Susan P. Carlile, Deborah S. Peterson (co-first authors) and Tania McKey)

    Key Leaders

    Professor of Practice Susan Carlile

    Associate Professor Emerita Dr. Deborah S. Peterson

    Assistant Professor and Senior Director of Humanities Dr. Tania McKey

    Context of the PSU–PPS Partnership

    Portland State University

    Portland Public Schools

    Chronology of Improvement Science Efforts

    Networked Improvement Communities

    Partner Districts

    Newberg School District (NSD)

    Changes in the Partnership with the Newberg School District

    The New District Partnership: Portland Public Schools

    Challenges and Solutions

    Tools to Identify Next Steps

    Progress (Strengths) at the Partnership Level

    Progress (Strengths) at PPS

    Progress (Strengths) at the PSU Level

    Areas of Focus (Challenges) at the Partnership Level

    Areas of Focus (Challenges) in PPS

    Area of Focus (Challenge) in PSU

    Contextual Complexities

    Theory of Improvement

    Program Redesign

    Redesign PPS Practices for Principal Support

    Hire Scholarly Practitioners as Principal Preparation Cohort Leaders

    PPS Hires PSU Principal Licensure Completers

    Lessons Learned

    Next Steps

    Conclusion

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    SECTION III: PARTNERSHIPS AIN’T EASY: LEARNING FROM SHORT–TERM EFFORTS AND LONG–TERM SUSTAINABILITY

    9 Shared Goals, Methods, and Learning: Partnering for Equity-focused, Systems-level Improvement: University of Denver and Denver Public Schools

    (Erin Anderson and Sandra Lochhead)

    Context

    Problem

    District Context

    Sustainable Improvement in the District

    Challenges, Solutions, and Evidence

    Shared Goals: Embedded Process Over External Program

    • Where Did We Start?
    • What Steps Happened along the Way?
    • Where Are We Now?

    Shared Methodology: The Design Improvement for Equity (DI4E) Model

    • Where Did We Start?
    • What Steps Happened Along the Way?
    • Where Are We Now?

    Shared Learning: Shared Research Agenda in a Research–Practice Partnership

    • Where Did We Start?
    • What Steps Happened Along the Way?
    • Where Are We Now?

    Summary of Impact

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    Lesson 1: Be Clear About your “Why”—Your North Star Guides the Way

    Lesson 2: Create a Shared Theory of Improvement for your Partnership Work and Use It as a Map to Reach your Destination

    Lesson 3: Interdependence Was Essential to the Partnership and to Increasing Equity in the System

    Lesson 4: Be Disciplined about a Shared Learning Agenda or Research Plan

    Lesson 5: Despite Shared Values, Norms, and Goals, There Are Still Organizational Values and Conditions That Will Limit Systems Change

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    10 Organizational Changes’ Impacts on University-District Partnership Development: University of South Carolina and K-12 School District in South Carolina

    (Kathleen M.W. Cunningham, Peter Moyi, and Barnett Berry)

    Context

    University of South Carolina College of Education

    • Myrtle Creek School District

    The Partnership Between CoE/EDLP and MCSD

    Developing and Sustaining a District-University Partnership

    Two Partnership Frameworks: iLEAD’s Developmental Progressions and the Stage Model

    • Developmental Progressions (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2020)
    • Stage Model (Trubowitz, 1986)

    Partnership Journey

    • Improvement Work Begins
    • Establishment of a Core Improvement Team

    Organizational Progress: Partnership

    Organizational Progress: USC (i.e., CoE and EDLP)

    Challenges

    Challenge 1: Multiple, Evolving Goals

    Challenge 2: Logistics (Distance, Funding, Time–Competing Priorities)

    Challenge 3: Personnel and Leadership Transitions

    Challenge 4: COVID-19 Pandemic

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    Consideration 1: Clearly Defined Goals and Expectations

    Consideration 2: Core Partnership Team with Consistent Membership, Leadership, and Active Commitment

    Consideration 3: Lean on a Continuous Improvement Mindset to Reflect and Learn

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    11Preparing Principals for Urban Schools: The Challenge of Equitable Outcomes at Scale: University of Illinois Chicago and Chicago Public Schools

    (Steve Tozer, Peter Martinez, Cynthia K. Barron, Shelby Cosner, Zipporah Hightower, Janice Jackson, David Mayrowetz, Sam Whalen, and Paul Zavitkovsky)

    Partnership Context: Chicago School Reform and UIC’s “Urban Mission”

    Chicago School Reform and State Legislation

    The Principal Preparation Program Design and Re-design: 11 Key Components

    Impact of Program Design and Re-design

    “We Want to Be as Good as People Think We Are”

    Using the Developmental Progressions to Tell the CPS/UIC Partnership Story

    From MOU to Vendor Contract

    A Missing Objective?

    Preparation of CPS Principal Supervisors (Network Chiefs) and Central Office Personnel

    A Next Edge of Growth

    Developing Capacity as a District Partner: the UIC EdD Program

    Elaborations and Qualifications on the IHE Narrative

    Vision, Systems, and Above All, People

    Our First Targeted Program Hire

    Building the Team

    Leadership Coaches as Boundary Spanners

    Creating “Boundary Objects”

    Next Edges of Growth

    Need for New Resources

    How Did the District Sustain Its Share of the Partnership for 20 Years across Nine CEOs?

    Conclusions and Lessons Learned

    1. Equity

    2. Partnership

    3. Leadership Development: Vision, Systems, and People

    4. Continuous Improvement

    Questions for Discussion

    References

    Conclusion:Evolving Tethers that Bind School District to University

    (Louis M. Gomez and Manuelito Biag)

    Tightly Tethered Mutuality

    Attending to the How of Partnerships

    The Role of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

    Building a Strong Field: Infrastructure that Recasts Partnerships

    Creating Social Infrastructure for Collective Action

    Looking Forward: The Sustainability of Mutually Beneficial Partnerships for Leadership and Continuous Improvement

    References

    Reference

    Index

    About the Contributors

Reviews
Reviews
  • This volume brings together a dream author team—a mix of scholars and scholarly professionals with complementary research and practice-based expertise who have figured out how to work productively together in research-practice partnerships. Their contributions provide inspiration and concrete guidance for educational leaders in schools, districts, and institutions of higher education. The rich cases of higher education–school district partnership reveal innovative structures and collaborative practices that enable joint work to build capacity for continuous improvement in service of creating more effective and equitable systems. For all these reasons and more, this book is on the cutting edge of the continuous improvement movement in education and is a must-read for educators seeking to transform U.S. education and create equitable learning opportunities for students.


    — Jennifer Lin Russell, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University


    Leaders in public and higher education are facing unprecedented calls to advance quality and equity in students’ educational opportunities and outcomes. This volume provides remarkable perspective on the power of districts and universities learning together—in partnerships and in community—to do more, for more students, than either could possibly do on their own. It serves as both a call and a blueprint for action, with the contributing authors inviting district and university leaders to follow in their footsteps to forge institutional change.


    — Donald J. Peurach, Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan


    What excites me about this edited volume is that it provides illustrations of partnerships that are making an impact in education! It exists as a useful tool for individuals seeking images of the possible in co-designing and co-implementing partnerships that work. And, ultimately, it demonstrates the power of collaboration—that the future of education is through partnership, by tackling persistent problems of practice together. It shows that schools and universities are truly better together.


    — Rebecca West Burns, Bill Herrold Endowed Professor, director of Clinical Practice and Educational Partnerships, College of Education and Human Services, University of North Florida


    These cases provide wonderful, concrete examples of how district-university partnerships for continuous improvement can benefit both school districts and schools of education. Anyone interested in engaging in such partnerships should read this book, especially to identify the benefits, but also to get a sense of the challenges such partnerships face.


    — William Firestone, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education (retired)


    Gomez, Biag, Imig, Tozer, and Hitz bring together powerful examples of how—through thoughtful and deliberate continuous improvement processes—partnerships can be formed to address complex problems of practice in our schools. This text will quickly become a go-to guide for those seeking to engage in equity-focused and contextually relevant collaborations designed to address public school challenges and to develop sustainable and impactful solutions.


    — Karen L. Sanzo, Old Dominion University


    This book contains cases of district-university partnerships anchored in continuous improvement tools and methods. The book shows how those partnerships formed, catalyzed, integrated efforts, and facilitated organizational change. The multi-case approach is invaluable as a teaching resource because it enables learning conversations and coaching practice.


    — Ben Cooper, California State University, Fullerton


    This text is full of pragmatic and versatile lessons on continuous improvement in education. I'm not a believer in 'one size fits all' methodologies, so improvement science cannot be a panacea to all education research initiatives. But where evaluation and other important traditional social science research methods stop short of actually fixing problems, improvement science can indeed transform practice through innovation, collaboration, and learning from data. The book covers a variety of common and unique education problems as well as how the continuous-improvement paradigm can be applied in context. Just as healthcare and other vital human service fields have embraced it, education must as well.


    — Dane Joseph, George Fox University


    The idea that school district-university partnerships for educator preparation should be mutually-beneficial is almost universally acknowledged, but often poorly articulated by practitioners when asked to provide evidence of such a partnership. If you’ve wondered what 'mutually beneficial and co-constructed partnerships' look like in practice and how they can be authentic and sustainable over time, this book is for you. With one fell swoop, it silences those resistant to change who wield the argument that 'it can't happen here' as their justification for not innovating.


    — Sean Kottke, PhD, Office of Educator Excellence, Michigan Department of Education


    Blending the expertise of researchers and practitioners with the use of case studies, this book will be valuable for universities and school districts who want to deepen their partnership work and to see what this work looks like ‘in real life.’


    — Corrie Stone-Johnson, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; editor-in-chief, Journal of Educational Change


    This volume brings together a number of the most important applied thinkers and doers about complex education partnerships active today. The editors are seasoned education researchers who also share an extensive background with using improvement science. Their necessary communication to co-create this volume has proven to be highly generative with each pushing the next to new insights shared and needed detail added, to the benefit of the reader.


    — Edmund "Ted" Hamann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; chair, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Council of Delegates; AERA Fellow


    This text provides examples of how IHEs can move to research partnerships instead of coming in and doing research on a particular problem and having the school’s main function be as a participant. I highly recommend this text for school districts and institutions of higher education that want to form a partnership through the lens of improvement science. All IHEs should be training their candidates in school district administration on improvement science and how forming these partnerships not only improve outcomes for students in schools but also create equitable leaders that will be transforming schools and communities in which they are employed.


    — Tori L. Colson, EdD, University of Southern Indiana


    This important text provides a multifaceted examination and discussion of partnerships between PK–12 school districts and universities using real life examples from existing impactful partnerships across the US. The stories and lessons shared in each chapter can serve as a blueprint for others interested in forming similar partnerships with the aim of transforming their surrounding PK–12 educational community.


    — Christopher Benedetti, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi


    University-district partnerships have been hot topics for many years now. Many funding organizations look for this kind of partnership to ensure that research is done with and for Local Education Agencies (LEAs), versus being done on them. Improving America's Schools Together supports those who want to build partnership with universities or LEAs with some 'how to' information. Partnerships are not easy. However, this book demonstrates how improvement science is a rigorous but user-friendly way to get all stakeholders on the same page to do research in the name of making schools better. It showcases the tools of improvement, one of which is the charter—a formal, co-constructed document that establishes the partnership. Such tools offer the reader an understanding of what building a partnership looks like and what is needed to sustain it in different contexts with different foci. Each case is co-written by a university faculty member and educational practitioner, which supports the notion of university-district partnerships and decolonizes who owns and produces knowledge. This book is a useful contribution to practitioners—both K–12 and university—as they consider venturing into similar work.


    — Jill A. Perry, PhD, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate


    This book is a two for one—it discusses improving the content of the leadership development programs as well as the outcomes of the school-university partnerships required to make leadership development effective. What’s unique about this book is the discussion of improving leadership development and partnership using improvement science methods. The authors have actively used the methods discussed and have engaged in the partnerships themselves. I especially appreciate their documentation of iLEAD, an important effort to strengthening university-school district partnerships focused on leadership development. I highly recommend this book for people working in on improvement in the field of education from both practice and research roles and organizations.


    — Laura Wentworth, director of research practice partnerships, California Education Partners


    This book captures multiple stories of how institutions of higher education can come alongside school districts to tackle complex problems of practice. Each case provides insight into how diverse actors and partners negotiate and engage in the trading zones and boundaries of policies, practices, programs, and processes to reimagine how we continuously improve schools but how we prepare educators and educational leaders to lead and work together.


    — Edwin Nii Bonney, Radford University


    Here’s a must-read volume for those building new disruptive relationships between IHEs and LEAs. Case studies tell examples of intentional, sustainable partnerships. They are held together through the mutual use of and belief in improvement science and continuous improvement; a leadership network; and efforts to develop mutualism through boundary spanners and braiders. Don’t miss the excellent introduction by Tony Bryk and the conclusion by Louis Gomez.


    — John Q. Easton, University of Chicago, UChicago Consortium on School Research


    This text is compelling in that it presents both varied, well-documented examples of effective, enduring partnerships and also provides a concise and clear conceptual framework for those cases. Readers seeking to evaluate or create similar inter-institutional partnerships have the proof of concept and the conceptual guidance needed to do so. At the same time—and this is crucial—the framework does not float above the particulars, but rather it starts from the premise that context matters as the foundation for successful joint work. It is both an ideal leadership and policy course text and a very practical guide for those involved in the work of partnerships.


    — Mark LaCelle-Peterson, president and CEO, Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation


Features
Features
  • Visit the companion website for supplementary resources and chapter appendices: https://textbooks.rowman.com/gomez-improving



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  • Cover image for the book Other Duties as Assigned: Presidential Assistants in Higher Education
  • Cover image for the book Educators at the Bargaining Table: Successfully Negotiating a Contract That Works for All
  • Cover image for the book School Communication that Works: A Patron-focused Approach to Delivering Your Message
  • Cover image for the book Winning at Collective Bargaining: Strategies Everyone Can Live With
  • Cover image for the book Designing School Systems for All Students: A Toolbox to Fix America's Schools
  • Cover image for the book Summer versus School: The Possibilities of the Year-Round School
  • Cover image for the book Clues to Achieving Consensus: A Leader's Guide to Navigating Collaborative Problem Solving
  • Cover image for the book Leading Curriculum Improvement: Fundamentals for School Principals
  • Cover image for the book Engaging All Families: Creating a Positive School Culture by Putting Research Into Practice
  • Cover image for the book Building Teams, Building People: Expanding the Fifth Resource, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Turning Average Instruction into Great Instruction: School Leadership's Role in Student Achievement
  • Cover image for the book Superintendent Evaluation Handbook
  • Cover image for the book Educational Planning: Strategic, Tactical, and Operational
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