& Methodology

• Identify and prepare case studies of seven California localities where significant, systemic partnership efforts are underway. This will include information about the community and the populations served.

• Examine data on student performance from these seven localities.

• Collect data via site visits, interviews, presentations and printed materials describing partnership activities, collaborative strategies and structures, use of data, and other key aspects of partnering.

• Identify common patterns suggesting principles of effective partnerships.

• Convene participants to review the data and assist in formulating policy recommendations.

• Consult continuously with the Policy Advisory Board and the participants on findings and development of policy recommendations.

• Formulate and disseminate policy recommendations via a variety of publications appropriate for the intended audiences (legislature, government agencies, K-12 and higher education systems, etc.).

Progress To Date

A brief Policy Report (Word | PDF) has been created and is currently in DRAFT form pending the final revisions and feedback from each of the partnerships and policy board members. The Policy Report summarizes the Alliance project and its unique collaborative research methods, provides a brief description of the participating partnerships along with evidence of their successes, describes the essential elements of successful partnerships, and presents our policy recommendations. This report will be disseminated widely as a tool for dissemination and policy advancement.

Acknowledging the importance of providing strong and compelling evidence the Alliance has collected and provided in the both the Final Report and Policy Report a common set of contextual data, including API scores, completion of A-G requirements and college-going rates, for three of the most active participating districts or schools for each partnership, to illustrate the unique challenges and success of each. In addition, we have provided partnership specific data that demonstrates the effectiveness of the partnerships in addressing their stated goals and purpose.

All seven Case Studies have been completed and reviewed by each partnership for accuracy. Each case study is presented in an annotated outline format and includes a description of the participants, targeted population, focus, scope and shared vision, history, short-term and long-term goals and timelines, description of collaborative activities, organizational structure, leadership and governance, communication patterns, challenges, and successes, funding and accountability measures. Accompanying each case study are their contextual data summaries and tables of the quantitative data collected.

The DRAFT Final Report has been completed and contains the policy recommendations, a typology of preK-18 partnerships, partnership-specific results, essential elements of successful partnerships, methodology, an extensive literature review, bibliography and endorsement letters from each of the participating partnerships. The Alliance staff would like your comments and feedback regarding the DRAFT Final Report which is available here electronically in its DRAFT form.