This Army-Research Office funded project examines how to organize multiple organizations in a community in order to achieve the best results. In this ambitious 3-year project, we are comparing 14-pairs of communities (matched based on demographics and size within state). One community in each pair is using a formal, centralized form of collaborating called collective impact to improve educational outcomes in their community. The other community is using a more informal form of collaborating. Using an inherently mixed method approach, this study is poised to answer questions like:
- Does the form of coalition governance influence the types of relationships organizations have with one another?
- How does information diffuse differently in more formal versus informal interorganizational networks?
- Does collective impact produce more positive results for organizations, networks, and communities than more informal approaches to education reform?