ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the acts of boundary crossing that helped to sustain a long-term research–practice partnership (RPP) through an intense district reorganization that threatened the partnership’s continued existence. Informed by an understanding of the work of RPPs as “joint work at the boundaries” (Penuel, Allen, Coburn, & Farrell, 2015), we share the boundary crossing moves evidenced in interviews with 19 school district leaders and five researchers involved in the partnership, with a particular focus on district leaders who acted as brokers. We describe how brokers enacted boundary crossing moves to navigate “discontinuities” (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) in their work that resulted from the reorganization. Findings from this case study provide insights into how education leaders who work in partnerships can recognize and cross boundaries in order to sustain the work of partnerships to inform efforts to improve education practice.
