Home // Research Practice Partnership // tools to support rpps //

Partnership Interviews

To make sure everyone was on the same page regarding the goals and each partners’ roles at the beginning of the project, we conducted a group interview to ensure clarity. This interview took place before the first summer institute and was also meant to address any implicit power imbalance.

However, as we began our work, we realized that it was important to “check-in” with each other more regularly to ensure alignment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this communication became even more important, as the project attempted to best support the district in a trying time. These annual “check-in” interviews started after the onset of the pandemic.

To meet this challenge, the Research and Evaluation team conducted three group interviews with each partner. Though each interview was responsive to the given time when it was enacted, all of the interviews also had similarities. The interviews asked for the partners’ perceptions of the goal and roles, what aspects of collaboration were effective, and which aspects of collaboration needed further attention.

After the Leadership Institute – where the participating teachers were supported in their growth as teacher leaders, we realized that partners were using potentially different vocabulary to describe aspects of the PL. In an attempt to build a shared language and avoid talking past each other, we conducted an additional group interview that included members from both the PL and research teams, as well as the teacher on special assignment. We offer this interview as an additional example of brokering communication across partners that may have different operating norms.

  • Post-Leadership Institute Group Interview (coming soon)