APPENDIX A: PARTNERSHIP NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
Site Visits

Between March and June, 2003, each of the twelve community partnerships was visited over two to three days by a team of two researchers. After OVAE selected the sites, a letter of invitation was sent to each lead partnership organization, explaining the goals of the Community Partnerships initiative and the purpose of the site visits and identifying specific areas of interest. All partnerships responded favorably.

Over a period of several months, the researchers and site contacts planned the visits, developing agendas with input from all of the partners. A self-assessment tool was developed by C-PAL for the communities. They used it to identify the strengths and challenges of the partnerships in relationship to the criteria culled from the partnership and adult literacy literature. The partnerships completed the self-assessments before the site visits and shared the results with the researchers.

The purpose of the site visits was to learn how local partnerships affect the delivery of adult and workplace education services. The site visitors were guided by some basic questions:

• How are partnerships formed?
  
  
• What are the components of an effective partnership?
  
  
• How do partnerships affect the adult learner and learner persistence?
  
  
• How do partnerships improve the services provided by an individual program?
  
  
• How do partners coordinate their efforts and leverage resources?
  
  
• What are the common challenges partnerships face, and how have those challenges been addressed?
  
  

Sets of focus group/interview questions were developed to guide the visits. The research teams tailored these to each individual partnership and shared them with the sites prior to the visits. During the visits, the research teams conducted focus groups and interviews with the partners, program administrators, instructors, adult learners, and others in the community with a vested interest in adult and workforce education. They also observed classes and meetings of advisory groups, special interest groups, and partners and reviewed supporting materials.