Education Commons^™

A National Research Project Revitalizes And Strengthens A Sig’S Membership, Leadership, And The Quality Of Research In The Field, Steven B. Mertens, Vincent A. Anfara Jr., Nancy Flowers, Micki M. Caskey

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

A recent moratorium has temporarily halted the creation of new Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The AERA SIG Executive Committee, the official governance body that oversees approximately 160 SIGs, requested this moratorium, which was subsequently approved by AERA Council. The purpose of the moratorium is to allow the SIG Executive Committee to gather data to facilitate a more critical examination of issues related to SIGs, including low membership numbers, leadership challenges, and specific membership needs addressed by SIGs. This article offers the Middle Level Education Research (MLER) SIG as an example of a SIG …

Designing And Tailoring School/University Partnerships: A Straightjacket, Security Blanket, Or Just A Loose Coat?, Dannelle D. Stevens, Robert B. Everhart

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Formalized partnerships between colleges or universities and public schools have gained in popularity even though their impact remains uncertain. Such partnerships, existing under a variety of terms (the most common of which is Professional Development Schools [PDS}), are meant to bring together the resources and the expertise of the university and those of one or more public schools. PDSs typically center on three fundamental domains of activity: the preparation of new educational professionals, the continuing professional development of current staff, and the collaborative field-based research on issues of common interest.

This paper focuses on the process by which such partnerships …