Partnerships

Partnerships

Businesses and schools have been involved with each other since the late 1800s, and their relationship formalized into partnerships since the late 1970s. However, the conditions in the United States in the early 1980s-the education crisis in public schools, the low skill level of entry-level workers, and the demands of an evolving economy-accelerated the development of these partnerships. "Between 1983-1984 and 1987-88, the number of business/education partnerships rose from 42,200 to 140,800" (Grobe et al. 1993, p. 4). As they expanded in number, these partnerships also expanded in dimension, from simple one-to-one agreements to complex multiagency collaborative arrangements. This expansion of partners and agendas has resulted in an expansion of benefits for all of the partners embracing the partnership goals. This Digestis designed to bring new perspective to an understanding of business/education partnerships. Traditionally, these partnerships have been viewed from the perspective of the benefits to education. This Digest highlights the ways in which partnering with education benefits business.

History of Partnerships

Initially, educational partnerships were created by school system staff to "foster school-community cooperation, provide incentives for students, supplement curriculum and staff, and obtain equipment" (Clark 1992, p. 2). Business gains from these relationships were primarily in improved public relations and enhanced community image (Grobe et al. 1993). In the early 1980s, school reform reports called for changes that would ultimately transform the nature of education and business partnerships. Schools were faced with the need for educational reform measures that would better prepare a diverse student population for the higher order thinking and reasoning skills required in an increasingly knowledge-based, service-driven economy. Businesses were faced with the threat of an inadequately prepared work force that would jeopardize their competition with other industrialized nations. Motivated to improve the academic and technical skills of the future work force, businesses and schools joined in partnerships of various sizes and types to achieve their common and separate goals.

Types of Partnerships

The type and nature of business/education partnerships vary depending upon the need the partnership is created to serve. In the one-to-one institutional partnership, the needs of one school and/or one business drive the agreement. Traditionally, business is the benefactor and the school the beneficiary. With this arrangement, schools benefit from the generosity of their business partners by receiving up-to-date equipment, incentives for student attendance and scholarship, and opportunities for students to learn about the real-world application of knowledge and skill. Businesses' involvement in