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- Title
Cross-Sector Collaboration to Support College and Career Readiness in an Urban School District.
- Authors
Malin, Joel; Hackmann, Donald G.; Scott, Ian
- Abstract
Background: School reforms requiring collaborations spanning multiple sectors are increasing in prevalence, but extant research has primarily focused only upon cross-sector partnerships involving education and social services. College and career readiness (CCR) reforms, such as the one highlighted in this study, are also often intrinsically cross-sectoral in nature. It is necessary to understand how such complex collaborations are developed and maintained. Purpose: This study examined how cross-sector collaboration has shaped the development and implementation of district-wide high school career academies in a large urban school district. Research Design: We applied case-study methodology to examine a mature cross-sector collaboration that guides and supports the district's career academy reforms. A meta-framework concerning cross-sector collaboration-- developed by Bryson, Crosby, and Stone (2015)--supported our design, data collection, and analysis. Conclusions: Findings disclose a complex system of structures and processes to support reform implementation and illuminate the role and nature of cross-sector collaborations. This study provides an initial step toward understanding the elements, processes, and leadership required to develop and sustain cross-sector CCR reforms. The findings hold relevance for practitioners (e.g., how to develop and strengthen such complex reforms), community partners, and researchers (e.g., theory-building regarding reform-supporting elements and their interactions). In the United States, a policy push to strengthen K-12 students' college and career readiness (CCR) is underway (Darling-Hammond, Wilhoit, & Pittenger, 2014). This push is evident in multiple federal, state, and local reforms. Community partnerships spanning multiple sectors--including school districts, higher education, civic agencies, and businesses--are often intrinsic to CCR reforms and policies, especially those intended to augment students' transitions to postsecondary and workforce settings (Malin, Bragg, & Hackmann, 2017; Malin & Hackmann, 2017). The high school career-academy model, for instance, aims to promote a career-focused curriculum and relevant supplemental opportunities (e.g., job shadowing, internships, and college visits) for students through engagement with ongoing cross-sector relationships involving multiple stakeholders. Cross-sector collaboration is "the linking or sharing of information, resources, activities, and capabilities by organizations in two or more sectors to achieve jointly an outcome that could not be achieved by organizations in one sector separately" (Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2006, p. 44). Research highlights both benefits and challenges of cross-sector collaboration, noting how multiple stakeholders can work toward a common goal. When applied to education, such collaborations represent an extension of longstanding efforts to coordinate services among government agencies, social-service organizations, businesses, and schools, in order to address persistent community problems and improve graduation rates (Henig, Riehl, Rebell, & Wolff, 2015). Partnerships are essential to addressing many challenges currently faced by schools (Henig, Riehl, Houston, Rebell, & Wolff, 2016; Miller, Scanlan, & Phillippo, 2017), including efforts designed to improve high school graduates' abilities to successfully transition to college or career. Cross-sector collaboration represents a promising practice that can--and arguably must--be applied to the development of high-quality career academies. However, school-reform initiatives have been understudied within the broader cross-sector collaboration literature, with research primarily examining cross-sector partnerships to enhance social-services provisions (Henig et al., 2015). There is a need to investigate how community partners work across sectors through an education-focused initiative to promote students' CCR. This article reports on a case study of a CCR initiative involving a district-wide career-academy model operating in a large school district in the southern United States. In the decade since the academies were created in August 2007, various community sectors have been involved, and the high school graduation rate has increased from 58% to 81% (Malin & Hackmann, 2019). The study addressed the following research question: How has cross-sector collaboration shaped the development and evolution of career academies in an urban school district?.
- Subjects
UNITED States; EDUCATIONAL change; EDUCATIONAL cooperation; URBAN schools; ACADEMIC-industrial collaboration; UNITED States education system; SCHOOL districts; NONPROFIT sector
- Publication
Teachers College Record, 2020, Vol 122, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
0161-4681
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/016146812012200110