We describe the contours of one leadership preparation partnership between a university and urban high school district, to demonstrate the affordances that have allowed the partnership to process and weather challenges. Critically, we describe the actual work of collaboration, presenting one extended example of learning-in-action. As such, the…

Purpose: Annually, the National Association of School-University Partnerships (NASUP) awards individuals with the Exemplary PK-20 Boundary Spanner Award. The award goes to a university-based or a PK-12 school or school district-based individual who "innovates the systems or practices to enhance the learning of all of those involved in the…

Teacher retention is an important factor to the school context. It governs the success of students and school organizational health. Without a healthy and committed teacher population, schools begin failing to serve the very people they aim to help. School districts and research have identified several factors that aid in teacher retention. These…

Building bridges among education stakeholders is an important but underused strategy for creating a culture in which professional learning is seen as a shared responsibility. The National Center for School-University Partnerships, headquartered at the University of Mississippi, has embraced improvement science as a core strategy in its…

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the experiences of a closed cohort of aspiring leaders and connects the university and school district partnership relationship to building the leadership capacity of the cohort. This study builds on previous literature in district-university partnerships and leadership preparation. Powerful learning experiences…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine dilemmas in a district-university partnership that used network improvement communities (NIC) as a levers for systems change after COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: We draw on observations and in-depth, semi-structured interviews to understand the benefits and limitations of using network…

The increased need for effective school leadership development, especially in rural and high-needs schools, has led to an increase in research-practice partnerships between districts and universities. Yet, there is a need for systematic analysis of the outcomes of such partnerships. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of a…

This research-practice partnership (RPP) focused on developing and testing metrics and tools to foster improved evidence-based budgetary decision-making. The expectation was that research findings would directly influence decisions about program expansion, contraction, or elimination. Instead, unexpected findings led to unexpected uses: changes in…

Our research-practice partnership (RPP) focused on developing and testing metrics and tools to foster improved evidence-based budgetary decision-making. We expected our research findings to directly influence decisions about program expansion, contraction, or elimination. Instead, unexpected findings led to unexpected uses: changes in program…

The individuals involved in the Professional Development Schools (PDS) partnership between Salisbury University (SU) and Wicomico County Public Schools (WCPS) share more about the work that led the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) to honor this partnership with a NAPDS Award for Exemplary PDS Achievement in 2021.…

Purpose: Many researchers partner with schools but may be unfamiliar with practices for initiating contact and sustaining relationships with school leaders. Partnering with schools requires significant effort from the researcher to nurture communication and trust. This can pose challenges for researchers who are new to the field, have relocated to…

In 2008 a community-academic partnership was formed between the School District of Philadelphia and our university-based team, Philadelphia Autism Instructional Methods Support. Through this partnership, we conducted a large-scale randomized trial of autism interventions in public schools, which indicated concerns related to implementation…

Purpose: District-university partners increasingly rely on "grow-your-own" licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic issue, our district-university partnership developed LEAP -- the Licensed Educators' Accelerated Pathway, successfully preparing 26 paraprofessionals as…

School districts and educator preparation programs are important partners in the professional learning ecosystem. Their strong relationships have long been lauded as the gold standard of preparing and retaining high-quality teachers, yet they have been slow to develop robust reciprocal relationships that can address intensifying challenges of…

Achieving equity in gifted education requires districts to disrupt inequities. Professional learning (PL) is acknowledged as an effective tool to spark lasting change; however, the realities of implementing equity-driven PL often hinder its effectiveness. This case study provides the perspectives of a gifted coordinator on the obstacles to growing…