Is Your Partnership Effective?: An Analysis of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Math and Science Partnership
The Partnership Analysis Tool developed by Victorian Health Promotion Foundation was utilized to measure the effectiveness of the Cleveland Math and Science Partnership. The Partnership Analysis Tool was designed to provide partners' with the opportunity to provide feedback on the current status of the partnership and to suggest areas that need further support and work. The tool was distributed each year from 2003-2007 to the Principal investigator and staff at the Cleveland Metropolitan School district, co-Principal investigators and faculty at Case Western University, Cleveland State University, and John Carroll University. Those completing the survey were asked to rate their level of agreement to a variety of statements regarding the Cleveland Math and Science Partnership. Each statement is based on a Likert-type scale with a number ranging from 0-4 (0=Strongly Disagree; 1=Disagree; 2=Not Sure; 3=Agree; 4=Strongly Agree). The statements are organized and grouped together into seven sections:
Determining the need for the partnership
Choosing partners
Making partnerships work
Planning collaborative action
Implementing collaborative action
Minimizing the barriers to partnerships
Reflecting on and continuing the partnership
A sum of all responses for each section was tallied to determine the overall effectiveness of the partnership. The tallied scores were placed into three categories:
0-49 - The whole idea of a partnership should be rigorously questioned.
50-91 - The partnership is moving in the right direction but it will need more attention if it is going to be really successful.
92-140 - A partnership based on genuine collaboration has been established. The challenge is to maintain its impetus and build on the current success.
Mean scores for each section were also developed to detail changes in partner's level of agreement from 2003-2007.
