The University of South Carolina Professional Development School (USC PDS) Network has been engaged in designing and redesigning school-university partnerships for more than 20 years with a focus on ensuring that school-based practice lies at the heart of candidate preparation. In 2012-2013, the USC PDS Network once again reexamined their program…

The Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut is committed to the intentionality of interweaving course work and practice in its 5-year teacher preparation program, the Integrated Bachelor's and Master's program. It offers a wide range of field experiences to teacher candidates. Teacher candidates enter the program at the beginning…

Responding to the challenge of more rigorous and outcome-oriented program evaluation criteria of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), authors take a critical look at the intersection of two standards: Clinical Partnerships and Practice (Standard 2) and Program Impact (Standard 4). Illustrating one aspect of a secondary…

Presents examples of sophisticated Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships, reporting generalizations gleaned from a recent comprehensive survey of literature on partnerships. After discussing conditions necessary to create and sustain successful partnerships, the paper addresses advantages of strong partnerships for PDSs and reports…

Describes the 5-year-old Professional Development School (PDS) relationship between the Mary Munford Model School near Richmond, Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University. The PDS focuses on goals of the Holmes Partnership. This paper looks at the stories of a classroom teacher and a university educator involved in the PDS. (SM)

Traces the evolution of an elementary PDS that began as a project (the Learning Environment Project, or the Responsive Classroom Project). The project provides insight into the process and developmental stages of the partnership and moving toward the core commitments of the PDS. The idiosyncratic nature of relationships and the need to give them…

Examines both discord and agreement regarding what Professional Development Schools (PDSs) are, offering a generally accepted definition. The paper acknowledges evidence that PDSs can influence teaching and teacher learning, but notes that the evidence is insufficient to advance the work beyond its current spot within education. It recommends…

Explores two processes often stimulated by Professional Development Schools (PDSs): the destabilization of university faculty identities and the destabilization of university faculty work environments, presenting examples from one School of Education and its PDS partnership. The paper suggests that these destabilizing processes can help faculty…

Examines the benefits of and lessons learned from one Professional Development School (PDSs) collaborative, noting that PDSs require significant amounts of effort. The paper focuses on two issues: the development of collaborative relationships and the quality development of PDSs so they will not be another passing reform but rather a lasting…

Presents the Professional Development School (PDS) experiences of a participant who was both a school principal and the director/superintendent of a university laboratory school at the beginning, and who is now an Associate Professor and the director of an institute where she facilitates the creation of PDS relationships. (SM)

Moral, emotional, and political dimensions influence teachers' emerging identities. This paper analyzes how one beginning teacher acquired and maintained innovative instructional methods, recommends that teachers receive training in various instructional methods, contests the use of professional development schools, and suggests changes in…

Discusses when a school-university partnership is mature or collegial enough to be called a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership, challenging those who call what they have always done a PDS. The article defines a PDS, reviews the literature on PDSs, and clarifies the many models that exist across the country. (SM)

Several factors separate teacher education from its traditional place in higher education. Without appropriate responses this separation will accelerate, possibly relocating teacher education to off-campus sites and other providers. This article examines the perceived inability of teacher-education schools to respond to K-12 reforms and related…

Describes a 10-year Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between a high school and the University of Louisville, discussing resulting differences for the high school. The paper examines: four functions of PDSs; evolution of the relationship; changing nature of the work; the Teacher Guided Assistance project; a self-esteem enhancement…

In attempting to define professional development schools (PDSs), this paper describes the origins of PDSs, which grew out of recognition by research universities that prospective teachers needed professional sites where they could be introduced to models of excellence in all facets of public education. The paper examines what good PDSs should…