The increase in accountability on both preK–12 districts and institutes of higher education has heightened the demands for partnerships between the two. Such programs have the ability to provide contextually focused, meaningful experiences by combining the theory and research knowledge of university faculty with the practical experience of district leadership (Grogan, Bredeson, Sherman, Preis, & Beaty, 2009; Preis, Grogan, Sherman, & Beaty, 2007). This article provides a Year 1 account of one such partnership between a university and a rural school district, focusing on how the project incorporated and encouraged district voice and input into leadership preparation and how the partnership challenged standing assumptions about what quality instruction is and what makes a good leader. Based on a design-based research methodology, the findings are categorized into the following themes, which emerged through a constant comparison analysis (Strauss, 1987): the application of knowledge to specific district-based issues, leadership exploration, emergent and iterative program design, and embedded leadership training.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarnettB., BasomM., YerkesD., & NorrisC. (2000). Cohorts in educational leadership programs: Benefits, difficulties and the potential for developing school leaders. Educational Administration Quarterly, 36(2), 255–282.
2.
BauchP. (2000, April). School community partnerships in rural schools: Leadership, renewal, and a sense of place. Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
3.
BorthwickA. C., StirlingT., NaumanA. D., & CookD. L. (2003). Achieving successful school–university collaboration. Urban Education, 38(3), 330–371.
4.
BoudahD., & MitchellV. (1998). The real thing. Journal of Staff Development, 19(3), 43–47.
5.
Browne-FerrignoT., & AllenL. (2006). Preparing principals for high-need rural schools: A central office perspective about collaborative efforts to transform school leadership. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 21(1), 1–16.
6.
Browne-FerrignoT., & KnoeppelR. (2005). Training principals to ensure access to equitable learning opportunities in a high-need rural school district. Educational Considerations, 33(1), 8–14.
7.
Browne-FerrignoT., & MuthR. (2003). Effects of cohorts on learners. Journal of School Leadership, 13(6), 621–643.
8.
CollinsA., JosephD., & BielaczycK. (2004). Design research: Theoretical and methodological issues. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 15–42.
9.
EdelsonD. C. (2002). Design research: What we learn when we engage in design. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 11(1), 105–121.
10.
GlickmanC. D., GordonS. P., & Ross-GordonJ. M. (2007). Supervision and instructional leadership: A developmental approach (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
11.
GrahamL., PatersonD., & MillerJ. (2008, March). Leadership in Australian rural schools: Bush track, fast track. Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York.
12.
GroganM., & AndrewsR. (2002). Defining preparation and professional development for the future. Educational Administration Quarterly, 38(2), 233–256.
13.
GroganM., BredesonP. V., ShermanW. H., PreisS., & BeatyD. A. (2009). The design and delivery of leadership preparation. In YoungM., CrowG., MurphyJ., & OgawaR. (Eds.), The handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 395–416). New York: Routledge.
14.
HackmannD. G., & WanatC. L. (2007). Licensing principals: Iowa's preparation reform initiative. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 2(3), 1–36.
15.
HarmonH., GordanierJ., HenryL., & GeorgeA. (2007). Changing teaching practices in rural schools. The Rural Educator, 28(2), 8–12.
16.
HillM. (1995). Educational leadership cohort models: Changing the talk to change the walk. Planning and Changing, 26(3/4), 179–189.
17.
Institute for Educational Leadership. (2005). Preparing and supporting diverse, culturally competent leaders: Practice and policy considerations.Washington, DC: Author.
18.
LagemannE. C. (2002). An elusive science. The troubling history of education research.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
19.
LaMagdeleineD., MaxcyB. D., PounderD. G., & ReedC. J. (2009). The contest of university-based educational leadership preparation. In YoungM. D., CrowG., MurphyJ., & OgawaR. (Eds.), Handbook of research on education of school leaders (pp. 129–156). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
20.
LawrenceM., SantiagoH., ZamoraK., BertaniA., & BocchinoR. (2008). Practice as performance: Honing your craft. Principal Leadership (Middle School Edition), 9(4), 32–38.
21.
LeithwoodK., & JantziD. (1999). Transformational school leadership effects: A replication. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 10(4), 451–479.
22.
LevineA. (2005). Educating school leaders.Washington DC: Education Schools Project.
23.
MilsteinM. M. & Associates. (1993). Changing the way we prepare educational leaders: The Danforth experience.Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.
24.
MilsteinM. M., & KruegerJ. (1993). Innovative approaches to clinical internships: The University of New Mexico experience. In MurphyJ. (Ed.), Preparing tomorrow's school leaders: Alternative designs (pp. 19–38). University Park, PA: University Council for Educational Administration.
25.
MuñozM. A., WinterP. A., & RicciardiD. P. (2006). Inter-organizational research collaboration in education: A district–university partnership model. ERS Spectrum, 24(1), 13–17.
26.
NortonM. S. (1995). The status of student cohorts in educational administration preparation programs. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Salt Lake City, UT.
27.
PikeK. (1954). Language in relation to a unified theory of the structure of human behavior (prelim. ed.). Glendale, CA: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
28.
PortinB., SchneiderP., DeArmondM., & GundlachL. (2003). Making sense of leading schools: A study of the school principalship.New York: Wallace Foundation.
29.
PreisS., GroganM., ShermanW., & BeatyD. (2007). What the research says about the delivery of educational leadership preparation programs in the United States. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 2(2), 1–36.
30.
SalazarP. (2007). The professional development needs of rural high school principals: A seven-state study. The Rural Educator, 28(3), 20–27.
31.
SanzoK. L., MyranS., & ClaytonJ. K. (2011). Building bridges between knowledge and practice: A university–school district leadership preparation program partnership. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(3), 292–312.
32.
SargentT., & HannumE. (2009). Doing more with less: Teacher professional learning communities in resource-constrained primary schools in rural China. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(3), 258–276.
33.
SchoenfeldA. H. (2004). The math wars. Educational Policy, 18(1), 253–286.
34.
ShermanW. H., & CrumK. S. (2009, Winter). Designing the internship in educational leadership as a transformative tool for improved practice. International Journal of Educational Reform, 18(1), 63–81.
35.
StarrK., & WhiteS. (2008). The small rural school principalship: Key challenges and cross-school responses. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(5), 1–12.
36.
StraussA. (1987). Qualitative research for social scientists.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
TownsellR. (2007). Human resource management in small rural districts: The administrator's role in recruitment, hiring, and staff development. National Forum of Applied Educational Research Journal, 20(3), 1–9.
38.
WhiteM. D., & MarshE. E. (2006). Content analysis: A flexible methodology. Library Trends, 55(1), 22–45.
