RPPs have received increasing attention during the last decennium (Cooper et al., 2020). However, most of the internationally published, peer reviewed research articles on RPPs focus on partnerships located in the U.S. and Canada (Theis et al., under review). Moreover, although Coburn and Penuel (2016) postulate that these partnerships are generally long-term collaborations, the main part of the partnerships report to collaborate for a maximum of two years (Theis et al., under review). Thus, it is hard to identify whether the criteria described by Coburn and Penuel (2016) apply to RPPs worldwide. The way PRRs are organized might differ, depending on their systemic context. For example, although Germany and the US are both decentralized states, individual schools in Germany have less autonomy than schools in the US and the funding system for RPPs is dominated by federal agencies in Germany. We aim to add to the knowledge about RPPs by analyzing data from two separate studies on RPPs, conducted in Germany. In study (1) we first assessed the number and nature of RPPs in the educational sector in Germany. We conducted an online questionnaire and asked N=2,651 educational researchers at universities in Germany whether they collaborate in RPPs. Of the n= 411 participants (15,5% response rate), 44,3% (n= 182) agreed to this question. Further results show, among others, that only 17,8% of them (n=73) collaborate in long-term RPPs. Second, the study will provide information about how the collaborations are funded and organized (e.g. involved stakeholders, working modes, etc.). Results will be presented in the symposium. The data analysis is still running. In study (2) we present data from an exemplary RPP in Germany: the so-called Development Teams (DTs) at Leuphana University Lüneburg, which are running since 2016. The RPP consist of actors from the university, study seminars, schools, teacher students and from extracurricular partner organizations. They cooperate within the RPP to develop and improve products for teacher training in co-constructive and cross-phase collaboration (e.g. learning modules and further trainings for university or teaching materials and concepts for schools; Fischer-Schöneborn & Straub, 2022). The boundary-crossing infrastructure of this RPP with focus on the northern part of Germany (the state of Niedersachsen) will be presented. Likewise, results from a quantitative online survey (full survey, n = 78 participants) on success factors and challenges of this RPP as well as insights on the knowledge transfer will be introduced (Fischer-Schöneborn & Ehmke, under review).

Coburn, C. E. & Penuel, W. R. (2016). Research-Practice Partnerships in Education: Outcomes, Dynamics, and Open Questions. Educational Researcher 45(1): 48-54. DOI:10.3102/0013189X16631750 Fischer-Schöneborn, S. & Ehmke, T. (under Review). Research-practice partnerships in teacher education: Empirical insights on success factors, challenges, disappointments, organizational impacts and informal learnings. Teaching and Teacher Education (TATE). Fischer-Schöneborn, S., Körner, D & Beuter, A. (in Press). Campusschulen, Entwicklungsteams, Partnerschulnetzwerk – Zu den Herausforderungen und Erträgen von Schul-Hochschulkooperationen im Rahmen der Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung [Campus schools, development teams, partner school network – on the challenges and benefits of university-school cooperations as part of the Quality Initiative Teacher Education]. Beiträge zur Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung (BzL). Fischer-Schöneborn, S. & Straub, R. P. (2022). Das ZZL-Netzwerk an der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg: Ziele, Strukturen, Vernetzungen & Ergebnisse im Überblick [The ZZL Network at Leuphana University of Lüneburg - Overview of Goals, Structures, Networks and Results]. In T. Ehmke, S. Fischer-Schöneborn, K. Reusser, D. Leiss, T. Schmidt & S. Weinhold (Hrsg.), Innovationen in Theorie-Praxis-Netzwerken – Beiträge zur Weiterentwicklung der Lehrkräftebildung (36-57). Beltz-Juventa. ISBN 978-3-7799-6530-5. Theis, D., Schlicht-Schmälzle, R., Visé, J., Hartmann, U. (under review). How Research Practice-Partnerships Address Today’s Teaching Challenges– A Systematic Literature Review. European Educational Research Journal.