The origin stories of RPPs can tell us a lot about their current identities – why and how they do what they do. These stories foreground the historical contexts and inequities in which partnerships emerged and exist and can help us examine how far they have come. In this article, we hear the origin story of the Justice Scholars Institute, which began in 2016 to support equity in postsecondary pathways for Black youth in Pittsburgh.

Working in RPPs isn’t easy, as they challenge traditional norms around education research and practice and ask us to work together in new ways. So how can the next generation of RPPers learn to do this work well? This article explores what an analysis of RPP course syllabi reveals about the goals and learning experiences in the RPP courses that currently exist – and where we might go from there.

The NNERPP Annual Forum (our annual gathering for NNERPP members, friends, and RPP super fans) generates an enormous amount of knowledge in the span of just a few days. But what happens with this knowledge once we all go home? We introduce the NNERPP Annual Forum Compendium, our effort to capture and extend the learning that happens at the Forum.

This past January 1, 2026, we marked 10 years of NNERPP! Taking a moment to reflect on this journey, we are capturing 10 lessons and insights we’ve learned with our members and friends over the years, chosen for their significant impacts on how we think and talk about RPPs at NNERPP.

How can RPPs plan for long-term sustainability? We introduce a comprehensive sustainability framework for RPPs that was created with input from a wide group of NNERPP members and friends across several years and encourages partnerships to reflect on four key dimensions of sustainability.

How has the RPP field shifted during the past decade? Where might we be headed in the next ten years? This article explores the perspectives of those who have been in the RPP space for a long time on what they have observed and learned and what they think comes next for RPPs.

How can we support practice-side leaders in participating in and presenting at conferences that are often designed with only academic researchers in mind? This article explores the value, learning opportunities, and some logistical considerations of such efforts.

How do professionals end up working in RPPs? What prepares them for this work? This article begins to explore the question of possible pathways into RPPs to help support the growing RPP field and those engaged in the work in being effective and impactful.

How do we know which components are central to forming and being a healthy partnership? Members of the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) share insights from a collaborative thought activity examining the main “ingredients” to a partnership “recipe.”

How can RPPs partner with and truly center youth? Youth from YouthCARES (Youth Civic Action for Resilient Environmental Solutions) share five pieces of advice based on their experiences.

How could RPPs navigate the complex systems and relationships inherent to partnership work? RPP team members brought together by a study conducted under the New York City Early Childhood Research Network propose situational mapping analysis as one way to examine the multiple and interacting influences that can affect within- and cross-team collaboration.

One powerful way to illustrate the impact of RPPs is to simply hear –and share– their stories: What have they worked on in a given timeframe? How has the work impacted students, teachers, and communities? Here, we “visit” six RPPs from across the country (as well as internationally) for a look at what they have been up to in 2025 – and what difference their work has made.