The MAST-EL University and School Partnership supports a strategic infrastructure for preparing preservice and in-service teachers ensuring high quality mathematics and science instruction for English learners (ELs). The partnership in its second year consists of thirty-two in-service elementary teachers, three instructional coaches, thirty…

This article describes the lessons learned during the implementation of a new master's degree program for K-8 teachers. The program's goal was to increase student inquiry and sense making in mathematics and science classrooms. Each of the twenty-four teacher participants reported strong satisfaction with the program, and a variety of…

Various iterations of STEM have been in the forefront of national educational reform of science and math teaching over the last two decades. Most recently, STEM is being viewed as the integration of the sciences, math, technology, and engineering to solve authentic problems, rather than an individual collection of related subjects. This approach…

This article presents findings from a study about the perceived impact of a job-embedded graduate program designed to prepare teacher leaders within the context of university-district-school partnerships. Study participants completed a 30-item survey about impact of the program on instructional practices, collaboration with peers, participation in…

If educational research stemming from colleges of education is sometimes out of touch, scholarship engaged by school districts and state boards of education is often dangerous in its distant view but arms-length reach. Teaching and learning are enhanced when members of the school community engage in collective grounded efforts to make real change.…

Despite years of controversy about what counts as rigorous educational research and significant amounts of taxpayers' support for related reform of U.S. public schools, serious inequities in U.S. K-12 education remain. The authors of this essay bring the perspectives of two tenured university teacher educators who share a background of over 40…

Teacher leadership is difficult because teachers often lack encouragement and opportunities to implement ideas that deliberately and strategically interact with and tap power structures in schools. In this study, a book club of university faculty and middle school teachers provided teacher leaders with a template for change around concepts…

In this article, we describe a school-university relationship that aims to sustain dialogue between educators who are positioned differently in relation to preservice teacher growth. We distinguish an intentional partnership model from other approaches to school-university collaboration, providing a rationale for our focus on dialogue and identity…

Toward a deeper understanding of the viability of partnerships and collaboratives, a central framing question is of importance: What are the promises, potentials, and problematics of university partnerships necessary to informing teacher educators in preparing teachers for the challenges they face teaching in today's schools? The issue addressed…

The author's work as a university faculty member and partner with local school districts remains rooted in the ideals of the Holmes Partnership and its foundational professional development school efforts begun in the 1980s. She is fortunate to have lived several classroom teacher and university professor lives--involved with nascent and…

The promise, potential, and problems associated with school-university partnerships interested in better preparing teachers for the challenges they face teaching in today's schools rest in educators' ability to actualize transformative practices within partnership contexts. To date, most partnerships have focused on less complex forms of…

The nature of partnerships and the integration of theory and practice in professional positioning is so complex that there are undoubtedly promises, potentials, and problematics. To live within this complexity, embrace tensions and challenges, and sustain this important work, the author views living an inquiry stance toward teaching as the…

Teachers and teacher educators who are seeking to (1) enact the kinds of innovative and transformative partnerships needed to bring out the best in teachers and students and (2) enable the rich connections possible among parents, teachers, student teachers, faculty members, and community members have no choice but to interrupt the old forms of…

The fundamental role of school-university partnerships has been understood by a few, misunderstood by many, and dismissed by most as an extra, something a person focuses on if he or she has keen interest along with extra time, extra cash, and extra personnel. The concept rose to prominence in the late 1980s and into the 1990s; now, 20-plus years…

The relationship between Brighton High School (BHS) and Boston College (BC) spans several decades. Professors from multiple departments at the university--not only teacher educators but professors of psychology, measurement, and arts and sciences--have walked, as regular parts of the school community, the halls of the gothic-style high school…