What Kinds of Research Had the Greatest Impact on Change?

This chapter provides partnering researchers and teachers with the identification and definition of specific types of research (e.g., descriptive-analytic, observational, and collaborative action research/inquiry) and research approaches and designs (e.g., longitudinal, survey-questionnaires, and focus groups) that were successful in instituting change and improvement in partnership settings. Exemplar studies of each type from two long-running partnerships are summarized, along with findings and their use to institute change. The research approaches are adaptable to current circumstances faced in American education. Special attention is given to collaborative video-based action research studies and the development of a video data bank as a proven partnership strategy for providing evidence of change and teaching effectiveness. Also, a brief history of research on the study of teaching is given, and the tools used to investigate teaching are placed in an Appendix. What worked and why it worked is the central theme of the chapter.

Newer Research Approaches for Needed Change in American Education During Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Times

Looking ahead toward future empirical work conducted collaboratively by researchers and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and in post-pandemic times, this chapter identifies contemporary and emerging types of research and research approaches to meet new challenges and answer newer questions. The chapter focuses on emergent research approaches for collaborative studies conducted in and on partnerships. Such emergent research approaches as design-based implementation research, improvement science, developmental evaluation research, impact research, netnography, and microethnograpy are included in the chapter. Each research approach is defined and described in the context of a partnership setting. The author concludes the chapter with remarks about paradigm wars and promising research (e.g., holism vs. reductionism).

An Historical Perspective of the School-University Partnership Movement in American Education and the Current Landscape

This introductory chapter provides readers with an historical perspective of the school-university partnership movement in American education covering periods from the early 1800s to 2020. Seven phases of the movement are delineated and discussed. The current landscape of different types of educational partnerships prevalent today in the U.S. are identified and described, along with remarks made about the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for expanded partnerships and research. The chapter concludes with the author's perspective on partnerships, the context and the book's focus on research and partnerships for educational change and improvement. Also, comments are made regarding an emerging trend toward the convergence and alignment of K-12 and higher education (13-16).

A K-20 Holistic Partnership for Change and Improvement

This chapter identifies the theoretical assumptions and a conceptual framework for a holistic and integrative partnership focused on change and improvement in K-20 education and teacher education. Such K-20 partnerships are based on the notion that an organic and integrated whole has a reality independent and greater than the sum of its parts. The author presents the case and urgent need today for re-inventing education by joining and converging the K-12 and higher education (13-20) sectors for an improved system of education and student learning. Included in the schema is the students' voice in the process of change. The essential and transportable elements of a K-20 holistic partnership in education are explained and two successful theory-into-practice examples of partnerships—Project SCOPE I and II—are briefly described. Also a model research approach and perspective on change and continuous improvement for the transformation of American education is offered.

Comparative Studies and Research Projects in a Professional Development School Partnership

Continuing with the theme of what worked to initiate change and improvement in a partnership setting, this chapter highlights a “comparative international research approach” and two major research projects that were successfully conducted by members of a partnership between a college and a school district. The first project is an American-Slovenian research venture focused on comparing and analyzing teaching of American and Slovene preservice teachers in their respective partnership school settings. The second research venture is a U.S. government funded, race-to-the-top partnership project entitled CLIPS – Career Ladder Innovator Programs and System. The grant project involved veteran teachers and was aimed at advancing newer professional positions for teachers – teacher-leader innovator, master teacher, and researcher. The two research ventures and their investigative designs are offered as springboards and templates for others to adapt and use to achieve their partnership goals during this new era of change in education.

‘The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create It' -- P. Drucker

This final chapter begins with a section on the history of professional development school partnerships and the current need to advance PDS and partnership research through the development of a collaborative national research agenda. The second section outlines a working framework for a core national research agenda seen as an inventive vision and tool for future empirical partnership work between researchers and teachers. The agenda is adaptable to other partnerships and involves multi-site and cross-regional partnership studies for strengthening evidence and claims of effectiveness. The focus is on the four-part K-20 partnership model: preparing new teachers, enhancing professional development, conducting meaningful collaborative research, and advancing student learning and achievement. Examples of newer research questions and a conceptual model for a research study using a quasi-experimental research approach are offered to researchers and teachers who are collaborating with one another for “re-inventing” American education and impacting policy during this new era of change.