This paper examines the tensions and differences in perspective that emerged within a university–school district research–practice partnership in the process of codesigning and implementing an out-of-school college- and career-readiness educational program aimed at ameliorating racial inequity. By analyzing interviews with both research- and practice-side research–practice partnership leaders involved in the decision-making and development process, we identified a set of three domains of ongoing negotiation and disagreement that materialized during initial stages of development related to differing conceptions of how best to navigate racial equity, the purposes and goals of collaborative research, and the role of new programs amid a broader ecosystem of youth-focused initiatives. We highlight the ways that partnerships between universities and school districts are fraught political endeavors that necessarily entail recognition, negotiation, and compromise of differing priorities, values, and perspectives.
Hu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.