Districts and colleges: The Collaboration Imperative

Posted by on February 24, 2014

Districts and colleges: better together

In an effort to shore up perceptions of education as a continuum from kindergarten through college, a new report from Edbridge, based on a survey of district superintendents and university and college chancellors, presidents, and deans, finds that only one in three district administrators and college leaders say they collaborate effectively together. This despite the fact that 90 percent of superintendents and 80 percent of college presidents, chancellors, and deans agree their collaboration is extremely or very important. Priorities for collaboration differ, with district leaders seeking improvements in teacher training, development, and delivery of curricula, and alignment of curricula between K-12 and colleges. College leaders value alignment of curricula, but also seek to ease student transitions and reduce need for remediation. Both groups doubt whether their counterparts value collaboration. The report recommends significant shifts in how educators work together as professionals and who coordinates this work; how institutions define roles and responsibilities and allocate resources; and how the results of collective efforts are evaluated. Changes are required in policies and governance structures that promote a view of students as “mine” or “yours,” distinct in schools or colleges, rather than “ours” in a comprehensive and newly envisioned educational system.

http://www.edbridgepartners.com/research/?research=our-survey