Negotiated Issues in an Early College Partnership: Description and Understanding through Interorganizational Theory

Abstract

Early college high schools are one solution to the college readiness challenge, but school-university partnerships are complex and difficult to negotiate. This case study took a close look an early college program between a state community college and a suburban high school and asked what were the negotiable items and how could interorganizational theory help clarify the motives and positions of the negotiators in order to better understand the process? Data included transcription and notes from four years of bimonthly planning meetings among institutional leaders along with individual interviews. The results provide a road-map of negotiable “sticking points” for early college high school partnerships and a framework of seven theories to facilitate understanding and successful negotiations.

Keywords

• college readiness
• community colleges
• early college high schools
• interorganizational collaboration
• secondary education
• resources dependency theory