The emergence of university–school partnerships as strategies for community development in distressed cities: lessons from a comparative case study of Rutgers University–Camden and Clark University
Creators: name: Closter, Matthew K.
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2019

description: Using a qualitative case study methodology, this dissertation examines the emergence, formation, implementation, and sustainability of two university–school partnerships designed by university faculty and leaders as strategies to rebuild communities and build an educational college access pipeline. Both cases—Rutgers University–Camden and LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, NJ, and Clark University and the University Park Campus School in Worcester, MA—influenced policy outcomes and state legislation to create new categories of public schools—charter schools in New Jersey and innovation schools in Massachusetts—that transformed the educational landscape in their communities. The research question addressed in this dissertation is: How did two small-city universities develop and sustain an educational pipeline as a community development strategy to provide access to college for students and families and to revitalize distressed neighborhoods?I use Herbert Blumer’s sociological theory of collective definition for solving social problems as a theoretical framework and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a methodological framework to contribute to growing attention to university–school partnerships as a community development concept when planning and designing new urban schools in small cities while focusing on marginalized families and children to elucidate the connection between vulnerability and resilience. To address the research question, I interviewed senior university officials, school officials, and parents who were active during the emergence of the partnerships, analyzed census data of socioeconomic indicators, analyzed historical documents of strategic plans and newspaper archives, and observed students, teachers, and physical school facilities and their neighborhood conditions. The interviews, analyses, and observations produced data on the conditions, qualities, and characteristics that supported creation of the two partnerships.Results suggest that university partnerships emerge when committed faculty and community leaders cooperate in inclusive planning that is driven by collective participation in building solidarity, shared meaning, and common purpose with a community such that the community builds the agency and capacity to sustain the partnership for an extended period. LEAP Academy University School was developed and driven by Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a Rutgers Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, and University Park Campus School was developed and guided by Clark President Richard Traina, his senior leadership team, and faculty from the Clark Adam Institute for Urban Teaching and School Practice. I demonstrate that the models were different regarding their approaches to engaging stakeholders and producing a community-based school, but that a comprehensive community development approach from a university is required for families and children to be empowered and excel in an urban school pipeline built on channeling students to college.