STEVE MYRAN KAREN L. SANZO JENNIFER CLAYTON Tracing the Development of a Rural University-District Partnership: Encouraging District Voice and Challenging Assumptions Leadership ABSTRACT: The increase in accountability on both preK-12 districts and institutes of higher education has heightened the demands for partnerships between the two. Such programs have the ability to provide contextually focused, meaningful experiences by combining the theory and research knowledge of university fac- ulty with the practioal experience of district leadership (Grogan, Bredeson, Sher- man, Preis, & Beaty, 2009; Preis, Grogan, Sherman, & Beaty, 2007). This article provides a Year 1 account of one such partnership between a university and a rural school district, focusing on how the project incorporated and encouraged district voice and input into leadership preparation and how the partnership chal- lenged standing assumptions about what quality instruction is and what makes a good leader. Based on a design-based research methodology, the findings are categorized into the following themes, which emerged through a constant comparison analysis (Strauss, 1987): the application of knowledge to specific district-based issues, leadership exploration, emergent and iterative program design, and embedded leadership training. As urüversities and school districts seek to capitalize on each other's strengths and resources for leadership development, one focus will con- tinue to be the development of quality, meaningful university-district partnerships. Such programs have the ability to provide deep, contextually focused substantive experiences by combining the theory and research knowledge of university faculty with the practical experience of district Address correspondence to Steve Myrah, PhD, Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529-0157. E-mail: smyran@odu. edu. 684 Joumalof School Leadership Volume 21—September 2011