School-university Partnerships Research Articles

Actively Participating in University-Sponsored Ecological Research Increases High School Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes About Science

The Next Generation Science Standards call for students to “investigate the natural world through the processes of scientific inquiry.” Yet, it is rare for secondary students in the U.S. to engage in authentic scientific investigations of natural phenomena. The Columbia River Estuary Science Education and Outreach (CRESCENDO) Project was a 2-year (2016–2018) university-high school partnership between scientists and science education researchers from Washington State University (WSU) and science teachers and students from five public high schools located adjacent to the Columbia River Estuary (CRE). The teachers and students collaborated with WSU scientists on a rigorous ecological study of the CRE, which provided an opportunity to study how engaging students in authentic scientific research would impact their ecological knowledge and their attitudes toward environmental stewardship. Our study methods included online attitude surveys and knowledge assessments for all participating students, classroom observations, and semi-structured small group interviews with 3–5 students from each school at the end of each year of the project. We found that many students made significant gains in their ecological knowledge and understanding of scientific inquiry practices, demonstrating deeper understanding of the connections between local land use and water quality in the CRE, as well how nutrient concentrations vary seasonally and along the axis of the estuary. Students also showed enthusiasm for taking part in a “real” scientific research project, collaborating with university scientists, contributing “their” data to an investigative effort that extended beyond their own school, and the opportunity to get outdoors during science class. We identified five “key elements” of the CRESCENDO project that contributed to its success, and which would allow our model of a consistent, long-term (months) and immersive research experience for high school students to be transferrable to university-school partnerships across a range of size, location, research mission, and resource availability. Finally, this project also provided more evidence in support of place-based approaches for student learning, and the importance of immersing students in their environments where they can study the natural world by asking relevant questions and generating novel data about the science topics that matter to them.

One step further: advancing lesson study practice through collaborative inquiry school-university partnerships

ABSTRACT This study offers insights into a professional graduate programme developed at the University of Fukui (Japan) that used the lesson study approach to elevate the application of field-based reflective practise for teachers and school leaders. This paper first details the programme’s structure and its school-university collaborative inquiry partnership model developed to build a sustainable platform where practices and research are integrated as teachers inquire about school-based issues. The impact of the programme and its lesson study approach is then assessed by qualitatively analysing the longitudinal reflection reports written by three graduate students enrolled as: new entrant teachers, in-service teachers, and school leaders. This study concludes by highlighting that the Fukui PGP brings a more significant commitment to HEI and the BoE and extends the application of lesson study for school changes and reforms. Internationally, it demonstrates a new systematic structure that works in institutional environments and settings where lesson study is practised to make changes in the organization. It fosters a more meaningful and critical lens to the traditional practice of lesson study.

Alfabetizar é mais que ensinar um código: discurso e autoria no ensino da língua

Abstract This article aims to discuss the use of the phonic method in literacy, preconized, in the midst of a “methods quarrel,” as the only evidence-based way to teach literacy. Although this discussion is not recent, from 2019 on, it gains strength by integrating the National Literacy Policy (PNA) [Portuguese acronym of the name], in a very controversial moment regarding the directions of education in the country. In this context, the discussion proposed here is based on the dialogue with authors such as Cecília Goulart, Magda Soares, João Wanderley Geraldi, among others who have dedicated their studies to literacy and contributed to the expansion of the debate on teaching of the mother tongue. Supported by these authors and by the Bakhtinian perspective on language, this article also presents pedagogical practices performed by undergraduate students of the Pedagogy course at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in the scope of the extension project “The school-university partnership in children’s literacy and the initial training of literacy teachers”, through which they are inserted into the daily life of public schools and participate in the planning and development of didactic projects focused on children’s literacy. From the proposed discussions in this article and the performance of the undergraduates, one can glimpse practices based on the discursiveness of human relations, which are shown to be potent for the valorization of children’s voices, their authorship as readers and writers, and their protagonism in the literacy process, seeking to expand their repertoire of cultural practices of reading and writing and their formation as socio-historical and cultural subjects in the struggle for social inclusion.

Lesson Observation Practice of Mathematics Teachers through School University Partnership Mediated by Lesson Study

Background: Observation is a critical component of lesson study implementation. To perform high-quality lesson study, teacher must possess the ability to observe lessons in order to gather data, information or evidences of students’ learning. These data are beneficial for developing high-quality reflections that will help shape their future education. This practice develops into powerful components of the teacher professional development program. Objective of the Study: To examine pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers’ observation practice while participating in school university partnership mediated by lesson study (SUPER-LS) program. Methods: The case study technique was employed in this study, which included eleven prospective mathematics teachers from a university and four mathematics teachers from a secondary junior high school who were purposely selected to participate. They were recruited to the SUPER-LS program, trained in lesson study, and conducted lesson study cycles. Between August and December 2021, data were collected using a variety of instruments, including observation report, pre and post survey, which were then analyzed qualitatively. Results: It was found that teachers’ observation practice focused mostly on students learning involving students learning, students’ behavior and student’s disposition. However, there is still a few of pre-service teachers focusing on teacher performance and most the observation focus was stated generally without enough evidences and rigorous explanation. This study suggested that teachers require additional exposure to observe lesson in order to gain a thorough knowledge of their students’ learning and to provide meaningful feedback during reflection sessions which is salient in maintaining high quality lesson study.

Teacher Educators’ Perspectives on Establishing School-University Partnerships for Preservice Teacher Research

Teacher Educators’ Perspectives on Establishing School-University Partnerships for Preservice Teacher Research

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy – A Diffusion Model for District-Wide Change to Address Systemic Racism

Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) has been implemented in classrooms and schools across Canada and the United States to address the inequity that has caused an academic achievement gap between Black and Indigenous students and those students who self-identify as White. The purpose of this paper, which draws upon a larger instrumental case study that investigated CRP as a district-wide change, is to demonstrate an effective model for sustainable, deep-level educational change to address systemic racism through CRP. The primary research question from the larger study was: How do people with different roles throughout the hierarchy of the school district make sense of CRP? In this paper, I highlight two of the key findings from the larger study. First, in order for CRP as a district-wide reform mandate to be implemented effectively, the steps of the reform must be diffused throughout the district rather than decreed from the top of the hierarchal chain of a typical public school system. Second, in order for change that impacts an entire school system to occur, there must be a mechanism for deep learning prior to and during the implementation stage for members of the district.
 Keywords: culturally relevant pedagogy, second-order change, decolonizing, sensemaking, university-school partnerships

What is sustainable participatory research? Insights from a school-university partnership

ABSTRACT A growing number of researchers are employing participatory research approaches to address social determinants of health. Despite evidence supporting school-based participatory action research (PAR) approaches as powerful health intervention strategies and recent calls to assess the implementation of PAR processes and outcomes, there is a paucity of research that addresses the meaning of sustainability in participatory health interventions in schools. This case study addresses some of the complexities that emerge when partners with a variety of goals and experiences engage in participatory action research (PAR) within complex institutions. We describe two PAR initiatives within a pragmatic intervention in two middle schools aimed at improving the school environment to promote school engagement and connectedness among adolescents, highlighting perspectives from PAR facilitators and school administrators. Findings underscore complexities of participatory research approaches, including the dynamic and iterative nature of the intervention and limited resources to support collaboration, and stress the role of alignment to existing systems and processes and the need to shift roles and responsibilities in navigating complexities to achieve sustainability. Ultimately, we (re)conceptualize the meaning of sustainability in participatory interventions as a process that is shifting and inseparable from the collaborative, reflective practices characteristic of participatory approaches.

Examining the Impact of Structured Clinical Experiences within a School-University Partnership on Student-Teacher Candidate Instructional Interactions

Educator preparation programs are under pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness in producing teachers that impact P-12 student learning. As a result, programs must investigate organizational features that are powerful for preparing teacher candidates to enter the classroom. This manuscript describes the development of an intensive, structured field experience delivered in partnership with a local district. Using the CLASS observation instrument (Pianta et al., Upper elementary/secondary CLASS manual. Teachstone, 2012), the investigation compared student-teacher candidate interactions between those who participated in the experience and those who participated in the traditional preparation program. Results revealed that candidates who participated in the structured clinical experience scored higher than their peers on the CLASS observation instrument in the areas of supporting students’ emotional needs, providing instructional opportunities, and learner engagement during the student teaching semester. Recommendations for future research include longitudinal analyses that utilize direct student-growth data as well as principal observations to measure direct impact on student learning.

Pandemic Pivots in Teacher Education: Creating and Sustaining the New Normal

This article documents how one Teacher Preparation Program (TPP) at a medium-sized public university in the northeast responded to the needs of their urban partners during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The adaptation of this school-university partnership involved improving relationships where the TPP is more responsive to the needs of this urban school district. This article showcases how two colleagues created pandemic pivots in their graduate courses for in-service teachers. These pedagogical examples, or pandemic pivots, knit together technology and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and create a more inclusive and more equitable new normal. Moreover, these pandemic pivots leverage programmatic mechanisms to sustain this new normal. The sustainability and success of this partnership makes use of stakeholder feedback loops which are both programmatic and interpersonal. Through institutionalizing these feedback loops, we create programmatic sustainability with the ability to dynamically meet the needs of our partners. The integration of SEL and technology pedagogical practices illustrated here are the result of programmatic structural changes driven by the voice of our partners, showcasing the design of our TPP.

Mentoring for school-based teacher education

Due to the shortage of teachers at schools, the Ministry of Education and Science in Latvia has devoted special attention to fast track of teachers to teaching starting new teacher education project to attract capable and motivated professionals from various fields to the work of a teacher. This also raised the necessity for the development of programme and training competent teachers to act as mentors in school-based teacher education programme. The study aimed to explore and evaluate mentor education in the context of work-based (school-based) initial teacher education. The research sample consisted of 55 participants of mentor professional development programme and 2 mentor trainers. The data analysis of participants’ questionnaires, reflections, mentor trainers’ self-evaluations and feedback on participants’ assignments led to the guidelines for building partnership between schools and universities to promote a common understanding of school-based teacher education. Keywords: mentor education; school-based teacher education; student teacher; university-school partnership

Exploring Veteran Teachers' Collaborative Action Research Experiences Through a School-University Partnership: "Old Dogs" Try New Tricks

This article shares insights from the experiences of three high school practitioners and two university faculty who participated in a school-university-based action research program as a voluntary part of the teachers’ professional development. The three high school practitioners conducted action research projects around questions that stemmed from and were relevant to their own teaching practice. As part of the action research program, the practitioners were paired with university faculty to support the research. Building on practitioner inquiry traditions and critical case study methodologies, this study used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of practitioner action research processes. Drawing on in-person meeting notes and reflective memos, four key ideas emerged: Infrastructure, We are all Partners in Education, Engaging Pathway for Experienced Teachers, and Challenges. Insights gained from this inquiry will have implications for professional practices in the areas of school-university partnership, professional development, and action research process.

Language and Literacy Practices in Teacher Education: Contributions from a Local Agenda

Language and literacy practices in teacher education are decisive in the education of future language teachers. In this article, I share my beliefs as a teacher educator about language and literacy practices constructed with teachers in Bogota. Thus, my intention is to weave my professional narrative through the connections I can make from theory and praxis to explain teachers´ understandings of language and literacy through their life and literacy experiences and the way they organize their practice as language teachers. My research trajectory of thirty years documenting the local literacy practices within the research area of literacy studies and local pedagogies for social transformation has significantly informed my practice. University-school partnerships and international collaborations for research and teaching in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Manchester, in the USA, and Dundee, in the UK, have nurtured me personally and professionally. My understanding of literacy as a social practice evolved to critical literacies and I developed knowledge in community pedagogies and city semiotic landscapes through reflections and collaborations via working with teachers. Community-based pedagogies (CBPs) invite teachers to see their life and work in relation to places they live and teach as meaningful content for linguistic, social, cultural, ecological, and economic resources to inspire students´ inquiries and teachers´ transformative practices. The city semiotic landscapes are powerful literacies for language learning; therefore, they currently adhere to the research group´s agenda (2019-2021). I describe my understandings, contributions, and suggestions as concerns in the field of teacher education in Colombia. My conclusions raise awareness about the need to address these topics in teacher education programs in Colombia.

A COVID-19 Re-envisioned Teaching Practicum Curriculum

The changes taking place in the schooling landscape because of the coronavirus are real and meaningful and have implications for the training of preservice teachers, especially the teaching practicum component of their initial teacher education programs. The havoc caused by COVID-19 forced many faculties of education into a state of ‘panic-gogy’ to ensure that student teachers could complete their teaching practicums. In this paper we argue that consideration should be given to core teaching practices and practice-based teacher education pedagogies (i.e., representations and approximations) that can be used in alternative “placement contexts” that will supplement and harness the authenticity of school-based experiences. We provide two conceptual tools, collaboratively developed by teaching practicum educators and mentor teachers, that can be used as heuristic by other university-school partnerships when considering teaching practicum redesign efforts.

The program of communicative and personal development of primary schoolchildren within the framework of an innovative university-school partnership: Evaluation of the effectiveness

Introduction. The article addresses the problem of primary schoolchildren’s communicative and personal development within the frameworks of an innovative university-school partnership. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the effectiveness of the program aimed at communicative and personal development of primary schoolchildren and to identify psychological and educational factors contributing to its implementation. Materials and Methods. The research follows learner-centered, semiotic, and hermeneutic approaches. In order to assess communicative development of primary schoolchildren, the following empirical methods were used: G. A. Zuckerman’s ‘Mittens’ inventory, O. G. Mishanova’s ‘Polite words’ inventory, G. A. Zuckerman’s ‘Dictation Pattern’ inventory, the ‘Brothers and Sisters’ method (modified samples of Zh. Piaget). The study involved 50 primary schoolchildren and 4 primary school teachers. To analyze the empirical data and evaluate the dynamics, the Wilcoxon T-test was used, which ensures the validity and reliability of research findings. Results. The article analyzes and summarizes the experience of currently available programs aimed at social and communicative development of primary schoolchildren. The authors have developed a program enhancing primary schoolchildren’s communicative development, theoretically justified and implemented it. The explanatory and heuristic potential of methodological principles and approaches to solving this problem has been revealed. The authors describe an educational technology called ‘a hermeneutic circle’ and illustrate it by means of a text analyzes focusing on its expediency, relevance, and communicative significance for effective cognition of the language essence and training communicative skills. The research findings indicate the effectiveness of the program called ‘Culture of speech and ethics of communication’ in the communicative and personal development of primary schoolchildren in four areas: communication as cooperation; communication as management; communication as interiorization; communication as interaction. Relying on these directions, the authors have identified and described the following parameters of the integral communicative and personal development: the level of dialogic communication, the level of communication ethics, the level of communication productivity, the level of understanding of the other participants. Conclusions. The article concludes that the implementation of ‘Culture of speech and ethics of communication’ program and creating a psychologically beneficial learning environment have led to a high level of communicative and personal development of primary schoolchildren who consider language as a cultural, ethical, and aesthetic value.

Preparing undergraduate students to support K-12 computer science teaching through school-university partnerships: reflections from the field

ABSTRACT Background and Context A key challenge in advancing computer science education in K-12 schools is teacher preparation and support. School-university partnerships and service-learning programs where undergraduates assist teachers represent one promising approach to supporting K-12 computer science teaching. Objectives In this work, we examine the computer science content and pedagogical practices that undergraduates knowledgeable in computing reported implementing in order to support K-12 teachers in their classrooms as part of a university service-learning course. Method Data were collected from 60 undergraduates enrolled in the course over nine semesters. Data included weekly reflective entries, course observations, observations in K-12 classrooms, and collection of artifacts. Data were analyzed using qualitative techniques and descriptive statistics to identify dimensions of high-quality computer science content and pedagogy reported by undergraduates. Findings Findings indicated that undergraduates were able to connect knowledge of computing to pedagogy and technology to assist teachers in the implementation of computer science instruction. Specifically, undergraduates worked with partner teachers to employ high quality content and practices that made computer science accessible to students. Implications Findings from this work are important as different models are considered for how to provide professional development and/or support K-12 teachers in building knowledge needed for sustainable computer science teaching.

Growing action research on environmental learning in schools: a school-university partnership

ABSTRACT A team of teacher-researchers in a large urban school board is working in partnership with researchers from a leading Canadian university to use action research to broaden and deepen environmental education in their teaching practice. This research-informed approach involves teachers, students and their communities in collaboratively deepening their knowledge and raising awareness about environmental issues, as well as devising local solutions to global environmental challenges in age-appropriate ways. This article shares the research of this innovative team by introducing their stories and the impact of their studies.

Investing in Sustainable and Resilient Rural Social Space: Lessons for Teacher Education

Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional areas. There is a strategic link between teacher education and the sustainability of rural communities with earlier suggestions (White & Reid, 2008, p. 1) highlighting that ―healthy rural communities may be supported via reform of the ways in which teacher education prepares graduates for teaching in rural schools. Likewise, the proposition is made in this paper that the relationship is importantly reciprocal and that, in turn, healthy rural communities and “successful rural schools†can inform and help reform teacher education and professional learning through the insights gathered into the ways in which rural education leaders and teaching staff work closely with their school communities. In this paper we draw specifically from the research findings of a three-year Australian Research Council funded project (2008-2010) of schools and communities where sustainable practices around staff recruitment and retention were identified to explore this reciprocal relationship. The paper will firstly discuss the context of the study, its method and conceptual framework, and then focus in particular on the emerging themes from the twenty case-studies across Australia. Themes discussed include the important linking between rural school leadership and community renewal; the possibilities of developing school-university partnerships to sustain the rural workforce; and the need for social and creative enterprise to be acknowledged as important work of rural teachers and leaders. The paper concludes with the implications of these themes in terms of better preparing a future rural teacher workforce.

Virtual Collaboration in the Age of COVID-19: Supporting Youth as Co-Researchers

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted teaching and learning in K-12 settings, as many public schools lacked the technological tools and techniques needed to support effective virtual meetings and online learning. In this article, we explore the impact of the pandemic on Youth Built Change (YBC), a STEM-pipeline partnership between two high schools and a university. In YBC university researchers work with high school juniors to conduct research on substance abuse and addiction in their local school communities. As a school-university partnership which emphasizes multiple types of collaboration (e.g., among students within research teams, between research teams and teachers, between research teams and university research mentors, and between teachers and university research mentors), YBC challenged traditional approaches to teaching and learning before the pandemic. In light of the ways in which the pandemic exacerbated those challenges, and brought forth new ones, this article addresses tools and strategies that were used in YBC to engage students as researchers, insights gained about collaborative work in a virtual environment, and the impact of this year on the YBC program going forward.

Enablers and Barriers to Successful Implementation of Cooperative Learning through Professional Development

Literature shows cooperative learning has positive benefits for students’ learning and social outcomes. Even though cooperative learning studies have been conducted in all areas of the curriculum, few studies have investigated whether there are similar effects for students across several curriculum areas or age groups. Moreover, less attention has been given to how professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities can contribute to changes in instructional practice. We illustrate how research on cooperative learning can be translated into practice, through a one-year University-School partnership. The current study is focused on our PLD work in one large private school based in New Zealand. Analysis of school data (quantitative student data and qualitative teacher data) indicated that, by the end of the school year, students reported experiencing more cooperative learning opportunities in their classes. Teachers believed that the PLD supported change in their practice and noted positive changes in student engagement. Analysis of student data also revealed differential outcomes by subject and age group. Overall, our study showed that PLD opportunities can contribute to the successful implementation of cooperative learning.

Collaborating for Equity in Urban Education: Comprehensive Reform in an Innovative University/School Partnership

Using data from a participatory ethnography of an urban high school slated for closure, this article examines the impact of comprehensive transformation on the university-school partnership’s goal to change from a culture of underachievement and negativity toward a culture of collaboration and excellence. We explore these question/s: How do comprehensive changes in infrastructure, policies, leadership, and instructional practices shape school culture? What role do shifting power relations (generative frictions) and authentic trust play in developing shared ownership of outcomes? We argue generative frictions produced changes in culture that impacted changes in outcomes.