Schools that work--private, public or charter--are ones where teachers are cognizant of and sensitive to research about "best practices." Pre-service teachers taught to use an action research model in their classrooms, for example, plan curriculum around the strengths and needs of their students. Such a model empowers classroom teachers because they envision themselves as researchers in their own classrooms. It is a model that includes preliminary assessment of students (both formal and informal), used diagnostically, to inform practice.
Partnerships with teaching universities support such a model "bottom-up" through mentorship of teachers in culturally diverse learning environments. Partnerships between the university and community outreach programs encourage innovation and good will. For example, as a methods teacher at The College of New Jersey, my pre-service teachers used Schon's action research model to help underprepared students at a community learning center prepare for a state mandated HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment), a requisite for graduation.
The experiment was a "win-win" situation: the learning center benefitted from university students' enthusiasm and knowledge, the pre-service teachers benefitted from a field experience that was "real world"--one that challenged them to confront their assumptions about race, poverty and class--and the university benefitted by encouraging its students to be good citizens.
Posted as a reply to:
Reframing the Question by Deborah McGriff 
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