Published: November 1, 1991

Partners

Adds Leo Lambert, a Syracuse University dean and a leading researcher on school-college collaborations: "Some of the most pervasive problems that are confronting the American education system--K through graduate school--are problems that the individual sectors--elementary, junior high, high school, college, and graduate school--cannot tackle alone. We're starting to see conversations that are crossing the glass ceiling that once separated colleges and schools.''

Motivated by the need to improve the academic preparation of incoming students and the desire to attract a more diverse student body, many colleges and universities have embarked on school partnerships with their own self-interest in mind. Over the past several years, the number of collaborations has proliferated, fueled in part by influence exerted by community organizations, businesses, and philanthropies.

"It wasn't just a nice thing to do; it wasn't just the right thing to do; it was the thing we needed to do,'' says Franklin Wilbur, director of...