Purpose: Annually, the National Association of School-University Partnerships (NASUP) awards individuals with the Exemplary PK-20 Boundary Spanner Award. The award goes to a university-based or a PK-12 school or school district-based individual who "innovates the systems or practices to enhance the learning of all of those involved in the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a thriving partnership between Frostburg State University and the Garrett County Public Schools that aims to improve teacher effectiveness and retention through the implementation of a robust induction program. The initiative includes sustained, strategic mentoring; extensive professional…

Out of school informal learning environments provide an excellent experience for students to develop scientific curiosity and critical thinking skills. Currently, there is a range of methods available for supporting STEM learning. As schools focus on college and career readiness, while giving high school students opportunities to take college…

This design case presents a detailed account of how we navigated various ethical issues observed in a robotics program that aimed to engage underrepresented students in robotics and STEM experience. The ethical challenges we encountered revolved around uneven participant engagement and interpersonal tensions. We tackled these challenges by…

The Maryland Action for Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Research (MADDPR) Program provides hands-on lab experience and mentoring to underserved minority high school students. Over 4 years, 93 high school students and their science teachers participated in the two-week summer camp program which was led by 15 faculty from the School of Pharmacy.…

As a two-time winner of the Exemplary Professional Development School (PDS) Achievement Award and the only historically Black college and university (HBCU) to be presented with this award, Bowie State University offers a unique perspective on the power of partnership. This year's honor is particularly special, given the obstacles many educators…

Developing and sustaining comprehensive school mental health systems should be a shared endeavor between schools and community partners; the task should not rest solely on the shoulders of the K-12 education sector. Community partners, including health and behavioral health providers, can augment the continuum of services available to students and…

Considering the critical need to support students' mental health and wellbeing, this article outlines a standards-based approach that integrates flourishing within a high school English/Language Arts classroom and supports clinical practice and professional development in a professional development school (PDS). Using the book, "The Bean…

North Salisbury Elementary School (NSS) is located in Salisbury, Maryland, and has the distinction of being a school that serves dual academic programs. The school serves a traditional population of students who live within the school's district, and it also serves the high performing students in the Magnet program, an accelerated academic…

The State of Maryland has always prided itself on being a leader in higher education. In 2012, the Career and College Readiness and College Completion Act (CCRCCA) set an ambitious goal: that 55% of Marylanders would have at least one degree by 2025. Reaching this goal requires increasing college access and completion across a wide variety of…

This article analyzes a novel effort to strengthen the preparation of both practitioner-scholars and education researchers. It describes a university-district partnership that offers graduate students the opportunity to develop research understandings and skills through participation in a "real" research project and provides district…

This article explores the process of an action research project undertaken by a PDS partnership. Participants in a one day professional development seminar shared their perspectives on action research within a PDS network, and findings indicate that participants valued the collaborative effort and opportunities to share their research efforts.…

Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland does!" (Abrams, Levy, Panay, & Dobkin, 2005). Although the Old Line State is notorious for harvesting delectable blue crabs, the movie "Wedding Crashers" failed to highlight something else Maryland does well: engineering design competitions. This article discusses how a multistate…

A partnership between a university program and an urban public school was created to help the school respond to the significant increase in the school's population of immigrant, English language learners. School staff and university faculty established an agenda to learn about local immigrant families, improve communications with the families, and…

In this article, the author describes the college-school district collaboration called the "Academy of Health Sciences," an innovative approach to learning that located a high school on the college campus and gave students the opportunity to earn a college degree, too. The Academy of Health Sciences is just one of a slew of ideas that…