How Linking University Research to School Needs Influences Scholars and Schools

This chapter considers training institutions as key points of leverage using special education as a focus. Research universities in diverse communities have a unique opportunity to train future research faculty to collaborate with school district partners to identify problems and areas of need, to conduct research that is of value locally as well as nationally, and to deliver professional development on their research outcomes. Through these linkages, universities can ease special education teacher and faculty shortages and improve the quality of instruction for students who receive special education and students who are English language learners and may be at risk for poor academic outcomes. We describe a research training model that encourages and enables doctoral students to collaborate with public school personnel on mutually beneficial research topics that lead to improvement in public schooling. We illustrate how doctoral students’ ability to design and conduct collaborative research and to train future teachers in effective practices is shaped by the university/community linkage. These collaborative experiences facilitate development of professional responsibility for doctoral students; as they graduate, these educational leaders will exemplify and encourage ongoing professionalism through their roles in the field of education.