Perceptions of Research From a Second-Year, Multisite Professional Development Schools Partnership

Abstract

The views of university faculty and public school personnel toward collaborative research in the second year of a professional development schools (PDS) partnership were compared by means of a survey and a structured interview. Although participants were involved in a collaborative partnership, they subscribed to a traditional, rather than a collaborative, conception of educational research. Whether a collaborative model of research can flourish in a PDS depends on participants’ ability (a) to develop a common mindset about what collaborative research is and how it relates to practice and (b) to achieve a positive balance of its costs and benefits. It is important in the early stages of a PDS to identify whether school and university faculty have different views about research so they can develop a common research perspective that will enable collaboration to flourish over the long term.