Case 1: A Developing Partnership:Our Growth and Goals

In this case, we share the developing partnership work between a liberal arts college and a small, private school for children with reading difficulties. We focus on ourjoint commitment to Engagement in and public sharing of the results of deliberate investigations of practice. (NAPDS, Essential #5, 2008). We share our use of inquiry to support innovation and reflection by all stakeholders, benefits to our work, and challenges to the continued growth of the partnership. Finally, we share what we believe to be the next steps to advance our partnership work.

Our partnership began five years ago when we began exploring the idea of PDSs and how they might function in our small, private college program. We investigated possible benefits for our developing teachers, the practicing teachers at the private school (Cozza, 2010; The Holmes Group, 1986), and the elementary students. We considered how we might extend our elementary methodology courses into the private school and how we might build a collaborative culture.