The faculty mentors also conducted focus group interviews
with school board members, parents, and teachers. The three interview
questions were: 1) What were your expectations for the partnership
between [the K–5 school and the university] and were the expectations
met? 2) Describe the effect of the partnership between [the K–5 school
and the university] (in terms of the school as a whole, teachers, and students)?
and 3) Based on the relationship between the [K–5 school and university],
what are effective ways to build schools=university partnerships?
The focus group interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed.
All five researchers read the transcripts, noting repeated phrases
and concepts that supported the research questions. As they shared
these findings with each other, categories and themes emerged.