A Review of Research - To Develop a Conceptual Framework for Educational Partnerships

Oct 15, 2026

A scholarly review revisits literature on educational partnerships to refine and update conceptual frameworks used by school and district leaders. The work synthesizes empirical studies published between 1990 and 2018, focusing on building educational partnerships and identifying strengths that shape an effective conceptual framework. It also integrates perspectives on partnerships from education literature, proposes a conceptual framework specific to educational partnerships, and ends with recommendations for strengthening the partnership research base.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Significance of Study

Educational Partnerships Defined

Key Definitions and Conceptualization

1. A Review of Research: To Develop a Conceptual Framework for Educational Partnerships Dana M. Griggs Columbus State University The article revisits the literature on educational partnerships in an attempt to re-frame and update conceptual frameworks to be used by school and district leaders for partnership development and evaluation. It also synthesizes and analyzes empirical literature speciﬁc to developing educational partnerships or analyzing the strengths that contribute to the development of a conceptual framework-published between 1990 and 2018. Finally, the article presents perspectives ofpartnerships from education literature in preface to a proposed conceptual framework speciﬁc to educational partnerships. The article concludes with recommendations for advancing the literature on partnerships. Keywords: Educational Partnerships, Conceptual Framework, Developing Strengths in Partnerships, Evaluation of Partnerships ICPEL Education Leadership Review, Vol. 21, No. 1– December, 2020 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2020 International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership Researchers agree that one of the critical challenges looming over secondary education is the need to guarantee learning opportunities for all students that will prepare them for the workforce and transition them into a high demand, high wage careers (Mann et al., 2018; McIver & Farley, 2005; Musset & Kurekova, 2018; Watters & Christensen, 2013). One way that educators resolve to meet this challenge is by creating partnerships with businesses and other community organizations (Bottoms, 2012; Castellano et al., 2003; Griffith & Wade, 2002) . Over two decades ago, Tushnet (1993) found that educational partnerships with industry helped to connect students to the world around them, to their community’s resources, and to the careers in which they will soon embark. In recent years, similar results on the benefits of school-industry partnerships were also published by Mann et al. (2018). Watters & Christensen (2013) and Musset & Kurekova (2018) discovered that the hands-on learning, associated with career and technical education, engaged students while also reinforcing conceptual understanding, but more importantly, their research showed that the hands-on learning, has more value when it occurs in the workplace. This means that working on real problems in actual job environments makes learning more relevant. These researchers also discovered that such experiences enriched learning results and prepared students to be knowledgeable, skilled workers (Musset & Kurekova, 2018; Watters & Christensen, 2013) . Significance of Study Educational partnerships have been hot topics in popular, political, and professional literature (Baker, 1994; Mann et al., 2018; Musset & Kurekova, 2018) . Partnerships have also been promoted in policy and legislation as seen in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, the Higher Education Act of 1998, and the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Baker, 1994; Barnett et al., 2010). For years, Departments of Education have promoted the implementation and sustainment of partnerships with grant programs (Baker, 1994). National policy initiatives for school-industry partnerships in Australia have made progress over the past 10 years (Torii, 2018) . The Business-School Connections Roundtable (2011), the STEM Partnerships Forum (2017), and the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools (2018) are a few of the initiatives implemented to strengthen schoolcommunity engagement to enhance student learning (Torii, 2018) . Partnership with business organizations provide an avenue for accomplishing many of the goals set for educational institutions. They extend the walls of classrooms and provide relevance to ordinary lessons (Musset & Kurekova, 2018) . School leaders would benefit from a conceptual framework to guide them through partnership development and growth. Pres

FAQs

What is the purpose of the review of research?

The review revisits literature on educational partnerships to re-frame and update conceptual frameworks for partnership development and evaluation.

What timeframe does the empirical literature synthesis cover?

The synthesis focuses on empirical literature published between 1990 and 2018 related to developing educational partnerships and strengthening conceptual frameworks.

How are educational partnerships defined in the document?

Partnerships are described as fundamental collaboration between organizations for a joint purpose, and educational partnerships are also framed as strategies to build social capital and address concerns related to youth development.

Oct 15, 2026

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