In this article, we share how a professional development school (PDS) partnership between several elementary school sites within a district and an institution of higher education prepares special education teacher candidates. The following challenges are identified for PDS stakeholders: recruiting qualified special education mentor teachers,…

Describes the development of teacher education programs at Henderson State University (Arkansas). Through extensive collaboration with school districts in its primarily rural service area, the university has modified Goodlad's urban-focused model of the professional development school to fit rural circumstances. (SV)

The East Longmeadow/University of Massachusetts Professional Development School project is a school district/university collaborative for teacher preparation. A goal of the program is to bridge the gap between a university-based school of education and public schools in preparing new teachers. To accomplish this goal the collaborative has…

This book focuses on the how-to of developing Professional Development Schools (PDSs) without external funding, challenges of developing such partnerships, and benefits of PDSs to schools and universities. The nine chapters are: (1) "Creating a New Institution" (Nate Essex, Vivian Gunn Morris, Marty M. Harrison, and Fred Johnson); (2)…

This paper reports initial results from an evaluation of the first 2 years of implementation of a Master's level teacher preparation program at Wheelock College (Massachusetts) for teachers of students with special needs (TSSN). An overview of the program notes that the intensive 14-month experience leads to a Master's degree in education and…

Discusses the development, underlying principles, program objectives, accomplishments, and pitfalls of a school district-university partnership, which established a professional development school first with a high school and later with a middle school as well. Topics include equity among school and university participants, governance,…