Collaborating
Of high interest are the voices of the K-12 educators involved in the planning process. Many
of these participants voiced concerns about their place in the process, noting that they were
invited to meetings, but not given much background or follow- up information about decisions.
Some K-12 educators reported feeling they were invited to take part in committee work so the
university could say K-12 educators were at the table, but not authentically listened to as part of
the program development. One K-12 participant felt that most of the curricular decisions had
already been made and she was included as more of a “rubber stamp” than an expert in her
content or in urban education. Another stated, “I’m still not sure how all of the parts work
together. It would have been helpful to have gotten information before entering the meetings. I
haven’t heard anything since the summer meetings so I don’t know where things are now.”
However, other K-12 educators liked the process and felt included as part of something new and
innovative that would support their schools with high-caliber future colleagues. One participant
noted, “I liked being part of the brainstorming process and dreaming. My preparation was never
like this.”