Partners or Managers? A Case Study of Public–Private Partnerships in New York City

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine DiMartino ◽  
Eustace Thompson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Educational Vision

This case tells the story of a failed public–private partnership. It illustrates how stakeholders, encouraged by the current political context, rushed into a partnership without establishing a basis for mutual understanding and expectations. As a result of this hasty arrangement, questions emerged over who ultimately controlled decisions related to curriculum and personnel issues. This case speaks to educational school and district leaders as well as private sector actors interested in becoming involved in public education. Students studying this case should examine the power and potential of memos of understanding and contracts, the importance of a unified educational vision and the successes and pitfalls of public–private partnerships.

Teaching a “Critical Accessibility Case Study”

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella R. Browning ◽  
Lauren E. Cagle
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Disability Studies ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Disability Theory ◽  
Pedagogical Goals ◽  
Do So

As technical communication (TC) instructors, it is vital that we continue reimagining our curricula as the field itself is continually reimagined in light of new technologies, genres, workplace practices, and theories—theories such as those from disability studies scholarship. Here, the authors offer an approach to including disability studies in TC curricula through the inclusion of a “critical accessibility case study” (CACS). In explicating the theoretical and practical foundations that support teaching a CACS in TC courses, the authors provide an overview of how TC scholars have productively engaged with disability studies and case studies to question both our curricular content and classroom practices. They offer as an example their “New York City Evacuation CACS,” developed for and taught in TC for Health Sciences courses, which demonstrates that critical disability theory can help us better teach distribution and design of technical information and user-based approaches to TC. The conceptual framework of the CACS functions as a strategy for TC instructors to integrate disability studies and attention to disability and accessibility into TC curricula, meeting both ethical calls to do so as well as practical pedagogical goals.

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