Empowerment of Local Partnerships Key stakeholders must be involved in every step of the process from development to implementation to evaluation. Key stakeholders must include students and their families. Local teams and partnerships need to be provided with some guidelines regarding partnership structure, goals, expectations for outcomes, best practice information, and assistance with resolving problems. Local teams and partnerships must be allowed to struggle with developing their own practices to meet local community needs. Developing local ownership and participating in that process is the glue that bonds members together and establishes long-term commitment toward reaching goals.
Flexibility is the key.
Perception is everything. Although a barrier may actually be at the local level, local partnerships may perceive the barrier as being at the state policy level. Open communication between local, regional, and state levels is essential. Financial incentives must be carefully considered. Start-up funding can be helpful to local partnerships, but limits for funding must be made clear and gradual reduction of support for local activities is important.