Sustaining synergy in an intersegmental partnership

The purpose of this study was to identify dimensions of synergy in the College Going Initiative of Imperial County, California. The instrument through which this intersegmental partnership was examined was the Partnership Self-Assessment Tool. This study found that leadership is the strongest contributor to synergy, and that leadership facilitates the use of other dimensions, such as administration/management activities and the efficiency and sufficiency of resources in a partnership. This study identified how leadership spans organizational boundaries to filter and combine information from each educational segment in a manner useful and appeasing to all segments. This study extended existing research by identifying a new model, the Three Phases of Synergy, which describes how the activities and outcomes produced in a synergistic partnership occur in three distinct phases: the convening phase, the implementation phase, and the sustainability phase. Each phase requires leaders take special consideration regarding how to influence the administrative activities and resources of the partnership. The ultimate goal of this three-phase continuum is to maximize and sustain results in a synergistic partnership. This study recommends educational professionals maximize the benefits of partnership by developing their boundary spanning abilities. Such recommendations are made for educational professionals engaging in partnership during each of the three phases of synergy identified in this study. In addition, the benefit of creating educational policy which reinforces synergistic partnerships and recommendations for implementation are discussed. Finally, this study makes recommendations regarding replicating this study, utilizing the Partnership Self-Assessment Tool in education, and future research of boundary spanning activities and synergistic partnerships.