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This case study focuses on formal agreements between a college of education and individual school districts. The Office of Field Experiences (OFE), founded at Eastern State University's College of Education in the 1960s, formally collaborated with five school districts to establish either teacher centers or professional development centers. Each of these formal collaborations, involving exchanges of resources to establish and maintain the centers, constituted a district-level interorganizational arrangement (IOA). Coordinators of the centers attended monthly OFE meetings. Additionally, OFE held its own retreat, special events, and workshops. The OFE represented a holistic IOA which formally and regularly brought together the coordinators of the separate district level IOAs. Part One of this case study presents a history of the IOA, its historical and institutional context, and the founding of the first centers. Part Two outlines the present configuration of the IOA, changes in objectives, key persons, resource changes, activities, barriers, facilitators, and dynamics between participants. Descriptions are also given of operations of the Cardon County Center and the Hanburg County Center. In Part Three, outcomes are described for the IOA as a whole and for the Cardon and Hanburg Centers. Another section presents a discussion of future possibilities for all units of the IOA. A presentation is given of three episodes which illustrate the interorganizational dynamics of the Eastern State University case. (JD)

This case study of an interorganizational arrangement (IOA) involves a set of school districts and a college of education located in one of the most affluent areas in the United States. The school districts had a reputation for being among the strongest in public education, and it was from these schools that the university drew teachers to become professors at the college of education. The history of the Eastern Private IOA, its roots in 1920, its founding, its decline, and its renewal in the 1940s are related. The institutional structure and procedures are described. Profiles of key personnel (graduate students, directors, school district superintendents, and a college president) are presented with descriptions of their individual activities and philosophies. In discussing the IOA, analyses are made of key events, management activities, the Fellows Program, research and written production, intergroup differences, barriers to collaboration, and successful collaborative activities. The dynamics of the IOA are examined, in particular the areas of conflict and consensus, bargaining and exchange, linkages, and knowledge transfer between participating school districts and the college. The future of the network is examined, focusing on the future socioeconomic context, institutional patterns, staffing, changing objectives, and potential resources. Descriptions are given of the Fellows Program and a writing consortium developed by the IOA. An overview is provided of the entire IOA network and how it is organized. (JD)