A Comparison of Four Models of Group Efforts and Their Implications for Establishing Educational Partnerships

Abstract

School-based partnerships are a vehicle for teacher professional development and curriculum enhancement in rural schools, yet the characteristics ofeffective partnerships are unclear. Four models ofgroup efforts appear in the literature which may inform the development ofpartnerships and help differentiate effective from less effective partnership efforts. The cooperation vs. collaboration model is based on the participants ' level of involvement in the group effort. A model describing the level ofinteraction among the partners classifies group efforts as operating in the partnership vs. relation-ship domain. Helping hands, project-driven, and reform-based partnerships are identified in a model based on the level of impact which the group effort has on instruction, student learning, and education reform. A mathematical model based on the level oforganization within the group effort describes team, pack and chain configurations and their approaches to problem solving. Common characteristics across models ofeffective partnerships include dynamism, mutual goals, par-ity, and commitment. Examination of the models in the light of observation and experience suggests that, in spite of identifiable commonalities, partnerships in any context are highly situational in nature. Partnerships between schools and agencies have been advocated as a vehicle for professional development and educational reform for the past decade. Collaboration among educators at all levels, state and local policymakers, business and industry, parents, and the community at large is seen as a key strategy for successful systemic reform (Earle & Wan, 1995). At the national level, partnerships have been endorsed as a way to improve education by the