An analysis of the governance and administrative elements of a public -private partnership approach to community -based education.

摘要

An Analysis of the Governance and Administrative Elements of a Public-Private Partnership Approach to Community-Based Education is the study of the partnership forged between the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (Kellogg), Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), and the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative States Research Education and Extension Service (USDA-CSREES) in 1994. The partners launched the Healthy Family America (HFA) model through Cooperative Extension's delivery system. HFA is a community-based education program for first-time parents in overburdened families. Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Las Vegas (Clark County), Nevada, and Walworth County, Wisconsin, were the only three pilot sites selected by the partnership to test the HFA model, from 1995 to 1998.;The focus of this study was to address the following questions: (1) What strategies utilized by administrators at the formation of the public-private partnership were found to be effective? (2) What strategies utilized by administrators at the formation of the public-private partnership were found to be ineffective? (3) What new strategies would administrators recommend? and (4) What strategies or procedures will the study recommend?;The following variables were examined and analyzed in relation to the strategies used by administrators in the partnership: (1) mission and objectives, (2) organizational structure, (3) decision-making processes, (4) conflict resolution processes, (5) policies and procedures, (6) funding mechanisms and authority, and (7) accountability.;Major findings and recommendations include: (1) Partners should acquire knowledge of each others organizational culture, language, operation and purpose; (2) A management style should emerge from the partnership rather than being imposed by a dominant partner; (3) Fiscal authority should be openly discussed and agreed upon by all partners; (4) A process for conflict-resolution and a mediator should be in place; (5) Written role descriptions should be developed, partners need to respect each other's skills, expertise and experience; (6) A written account of the partnership's institutional memory should be maintain and be available to new partners; (7) Partners should agree upon a decision-making process. Additional findings and recommendations are discussed in depth in Chapters IV and V of this study.