Partnerships Final Reflection Oscar Newman

Reflecting upon school partnerships involves considering three central dilemmas. First,

in a diverse democratic society, there is not agreement in basic questions regarding schools

and education. Likewise, there is not agreement of the potential role of partnerships or their

worth. Second, processes and resources are not conducive to the type of communication that

helps to resolve issues that stem from the first dilemma. Third, all organizations change over

time. As organizations change, their ability to work together to lead effective programs that

improve what students know and are able to do may change as well.

In engaging in reflection of this course, my professional career provides a lens that

both focuses and limits the ways I view partnerships. I have been a teacher for various

public schools within Chicago Public Schools for over 20 years. My position as a classroom

teacher focusing on mathematics and science and school Science Coordinator for an

elementary school has influenced the programs with which I choose to engage 1. Therefore, in

this paper, I will concentrate on partnerships that directly involve teachers and ones that

emphasize professional development. Finally, my ideas about partnerships are informed by

my experiences with school reform over my career as an educator and this assertion:

effective school reforms result from dialogue with the teachers who are charged with

implementing them. While this is not a surprising idea from a public school teacher, it

privileges partnerships that directly involve teachers in my reflection.

There is not one clearly defined idea for the roles of schools and public schools in

particular. Moreover, there is not one clearly defined role for partners. Consider the New

Century Initiative idea expressed in the Hirota et.al. article: “schools cannot – and should not

1 These are listed at the end of this paper. Their inclusion was primarily a way to get me thinking of all the ways
I have worked with other organizations as a teacher. The timeline is an estimate, there is a lot of overlap
between people and institutions, and this list focuses on those partnerships that were maintained over a
longer period of time. Finally, the partnerships listed are ones in which I have chosen to engage as a teacher,
rather than also including ones that were spearheaded by district of school administrators.
– be solely responsible for meeting student needs.” (p.37) In my experience, there is neither

consensus on what constitutes student needs, e.g., an academic focus or addressing the

“whole child,” nor who is responsible for meeting student needs2. As a result, the possibility of

poor alignment between mission and vision statements, between professional responsibilities

among partner and school staffs, managing logistics, and varied ownership for student

outcomes is very high.

In order to overcome institutional mismatches characterized by the first dilemma, there

are resources to communicate and align values and goals among different partners. For

example, the Oakland Unified School District and Youth Development Executives of King

County Partnership Toolkit offer clear prompts to guide initial discussions between partners.

As I reflect on the depth of questions provided in the Guiding Questions document for OUSD,

I wonder what the process of working through these questions is like. In my experience,

teachers have brought information to administrators more often than the other way around.

Moreover, it would be interesting to know, if school administrators are bringing these

resources to their staff, what the logistics are like for involving teachers and other members of

the school community into the process.

Third, it is natural that institutions change over time: people move, change schools,

become administrators and so forth. Yet, while successful partnerships are ones that exhibit

flexibility and the ability to adapt in changing circumstances, this is not always easy. For

example, during a five-year period, I have experienced five different administrative teams at

my current school. Partnerships that were primarily led by administrations were significantly

affected by this turmoil. Similarly, I have worked at a school with a staff turnover higher than

30%. In that school, it was generally partnerships led by the administration, teachers who
2 Nakachi Clark Kasimu considers the reevaluate traditional school paradigms in blunt terms: “Whether schools
know it or not, our traditional model of how we expect kids and families to access schooling...is very rarely the
case...” (p.24) While Clark-Kasimu uses the example of refugee families, it is more widely applicable and
resonates with my work in schools that serve large low-income immigrant or minority communities.
remained in place, or ones that originated from the greater community (e.g., the Park District)

that were maintained. If the schools that have higher rates of administrative and staff turnover

are found with a greater probability in certain communities 3, then abilities of partnering

organizations to reach out to those communities will be affected differently. This dynamic may

especially affect those organizations with guiding statements that place them at odds with

prevailing systems of society with regard to justice and equity. The dilemma of changing those

who implement partnerships has a synergy with the second dilemma: if there are already few

examples of schools and partners spending the enormous amounts of time and resources to

make sure that important initial conversations occur, then it is even less likely that these can

happen in situations of high turnover and institutional turmoil.

All of which leads to a lingering question on how schools and partners can work

together most effectively to improve student learning outcomes: where are the best examples

of schools and their partners overcoming the main obstacles to effective partnerships? In the

Hirota et. al. Paper exploring the New Century Initiative there are general criteria for the

examples of effective partnerships: shared ownership of outcomes, stability and evolution,

and mutual benefit, but more granular detail highlighting the very real challenges to

partnerships would be helpful as well.

Schools partner with organizations for a variety of reasons and these partnerships can

take many forms with regards to longevity, coordination of values, and scale differences of

partnering organizations. I have firsthand experience with two different types of attempts to

remedy these obstacles. First, the Office of Mathematics and Science for Chicago Public

Schools has created Science lead coordinator positions to link school-level science educators

and local partners. Second, I have worked with local institutions to showcase different

3 And here, it is necessary to avoid a “just so” narrative: the relationship between schools with high staff and
administrative turnover, high populations of low-income, and students of color is linked to a history of
segregation and the way that school reform and “accountability” are implemented in a large US city.
partners like the STEM Symposia organized by the Museum of Science and Industry. These

attempts are also not without their challenges: central departments like the Office of Math and

Science are initiative-driven operations with high turnover and it is not part of the institutional

culture of many organizations to attend events at similar institutions 4. If I have personally

witnessed hopeful trends in this regard it is that as people move from one institution to others,

they retain their knowledge of the local partner ecosystem of related organizations and

professional networks.

In conclusion, in this course, we have been challenged to think deeply about the

criteria for successful partnerships. We have had rich opportunities to learn from case studies,

notably from the panel discussion experience and a critical evaluation of the work of

Islandwood's School Overnight Program. While highly detailed examples of attending to

partnership pitfalls may be rare, it is clear from my experience that students benefit from

imperfect partnerships. In the same way that most serious, complex questions in education

lack simplistic, formulaic solutions (How should I manage my classroom? How should I

assess student understanding?) attempts to make partnerships have value for students, even

if there are unresolved issues with the partnership or success is fleeting.

4 There may be competition for limited schools, funding, and students, which may inform why it is sometimes
difficult to organize all partners under one aegis. Note that my experience is informed by work with partnering
organizations that emphasize science and mathematics. For partnering ecosystems with other focuses, like
the immigrant community, this may not be the case.
References

Clark-Kasimu, N. (2015). Serving Refugee Students and Unaccompanied Minors: More than
Just Learning English. Voices in Urban Education, (41), 20.

Hirota, J. M., & Hughes, R. L. (2008). Partnering for Success: The Creation of Urban Schools
That Work Better. Voices in Urban Education, Number 21(Fall 2008), 36–48.

Oakland Community School District. Community Partners - Current & Prospective /

Partnership Process. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2020, from
https://www.ousd.org/domain/3242

Youth Development Executives of King County. School & Community Partnership Toolkit.
(n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://ydekc.org/resource-center/school-community-
partnership-toolkit/
 Appendix: Oscar Newman Partnership Timeline
Organization Purpose of Partnership Duration
DePaul University Center for Urban Teacher certification, ongoing 1997 – present
Education professional development,
networking
NASA Urban and Rural Community Professional development, travel, 2000 – 2002
Enrichment Program school visits, networking
University of Chicago – SESAME Mathematics endorsement and 2002 – 2006
Program science university courses
C2MAST Workshops in shifts in Mathematics 2000
and Science instruction
Adler Planetarium – Astronomy Content knowledge, university credit, 2000 – 2004
Connections Program student collaboration among
participating schools, field
experience
Chicago Academy of Sciences Content knowledge, Teacher-on-loan 2002 – present,
Notebaert Nature Museum (Teacher program, Collaboration with like-
in Residence Program, Teacher minded colleagues Notably 2004 -
Advisory Board, Science 2010
Connections programs, Harcourt
Teacher Program
Chicago Foundation for Education Collaboration, action research into 2005 – 2006
Teachers Network Leadership portfolio assessment
Initiative
Field Museum of Natural History – Content knowledge, collaboration 2008 – 2012
Field Ambassadors Program
Friends of the Chicago River Professional development, water 2009 – 2018
quality monitoring resources for
student projects
Chicago Public Schools Composting Professional development, 2009 – present
Project resources, and networking for school
composting program
Chicago Botanic Garden Climate Citizen Science Project and 2010 – 2011
Change Education Project professional development
Project Exploration Professional development, 2009 – 2013
opportunities for paleontology
fieldwork, leading student
expeditions for paleontology
Museum of Science & Industry – Content knowledge, collaboration, 2011 – present
AUSL Science PLC, Science assessing science instruction at
Leadership Initiative School Partners school and action planning
Program improvements
Chicago Conservation Corps
Chicago Public Schools Algebra
Initiative/DePaul University
Missouri University Earthquake
Dynamics
Lincoln Park Zoo Partners in
Fieldwork Program
Cook County Forest Preserve
District
Michigan State University – Wipro
Urban Stem Graduate Program in
STEM Leadership
National Park Trust
New Leaders: Emerging Leaders
Program
Chicago History Museum
Indiana Dunes National Park –
Environmental Learning Center
Chicago Public Schools Teacher
Advisory Board, Middle School
Science Advisory Board
Note: this is not a complete list. Dates are estimates.
Environmental education networking, 2010 – 2012
professional development, student
club
Algebra Endorsement, University 2012 – 2013
Courses
Professional development and 2012
resources to commemorate New
Madrid earthquake bicentennial
Professional development, 2014 – 2019
resources for field investigations and
citizen science projects
Professional development for MS 2018 – 2019
camping program
Academic coursework, networking, 2015 – 2016
projects
Funding to expand outdoor 2015 – present
education projects at my school
Professional development and 2017 – 2018
coaching to elevate instruction and
achievement
Professional development and 2018 – 2019
student program in design
Student overnight program, some 2008 – present
professional development
Professional development and 2017 - 2019
networking, work with District
administrators to teach science
effectively and improve teacher
retention