Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are intended to engage researchers and practitioners as equal partners to address urgent problems of practice. While this goal is clear, more remains to be learned about RPP efforts “on the ground.” This paper is written from our vantage point as qualitative researchers on a project that involved a multi-year partnership between university researchers and four urban schools under pressure to improve student achievement. We examine the contextual factors shaping RPP work in these schools, as well as the role of qualitative research in supporting the partnership. Findings indicate that strong accountability pressures mediated how teachers viewed improvement efforts, causing them to be initially wary of data-focused RPP activities. Navigating multiple concurrent reform efforts as well as persistent teacher turnover also impacted the RPP. Importantly, qualitative research methods helped to strengthen RPP work over time and served as a main vehicle by which teachers engaged as active participants in the partnership. Implications from this study are presented to inform future development of meaningful and reciprocal partnerships.

研究实践合作伙伴关系（RPP）旨在使研究人员和从业人员平等参与，以解决实践中的紧迫问题。尽管这个目标很明确，但是关于RPP的“实地”工作还有待学习。本文是从定性研究人员的角度出发撰写的，该项目涉及大学研究人员和四所城市学校在提高学生成绩压力下的多年合作关系。我们研究了影响这些学校RPP工作的情境因素，以及定性研究在支持合作伙伴关系中的作用。调查结果表明，强大的问责制压力介导了教师如何看待改进工作，从而使他们最初对以数据为中心的RPP活动保持警惕。进行多项同时进行的改革努力以及持续的教师流动也影响了RPP。重要的是，定性研究方法有助于随着时间的推移加强RPP的工作，并成为教师积极参与合作伙伴关系的主要手段。提出了这项研究的启示，以为有意义的和互惠的伙伴关系的未来发展提供信息。