In a partnership with a technology magnet junior high, preservice teachers mentored public school students through an electronic learning community, an e-Professional Development School. The approach blends critical thinking, problem solving, and the Internet to help preservice teachers articulate their vision of teaching in a technology-driven…

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)

Many US teacher education programmes have developed learning environments in partnership with local school districts. A professional development school (PDS) is a learning organization formed through the collaboration of a university-based teacher education programme with its K-12 school partners. The resulting organization focuses simultaneously…

Professional Development Schools provide many different opportunities for the supervision of pre-service teacher. One of these options is the Shared Supervision of student teachers in which the university faculty member and the supervising classroom teacher now work together to complete observations, provide feedback, and complete summative…

In teacher education, as in many fields, there are several truths, each based on different assumptions and beliefs. "Conventional teacher education reflects a view of learning to teach as a two-step process of knowledge acquisition and application or transfer." In this view of truth, the university provides theory, skills, and knowledge…

A Professional Development Schools partnership between the University of Maryland and other elementary schools in the district worked together to explore, discuss and reflect on the challenges of helping students to write about mathematics. Finding ways to help students effectively communicate their mathematical thinking is a challenge for…

General education and special education teacher candidates lack experience in collaborating with each other as colleagues; however, upon graduating and entering their own classrooms, most are expected to know how to provide services to students with disabilities in the general classroom. This study describes the efforts of two professors, one in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a summer science camp teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers' science teaching efficacy, science content knowledge, and understanding of the nature of science. Master's degree students enrolled in the elementary Fairfax Partnership Schools (FPS, n = 21) cohort served as the…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to Montclair State University (MSU) on September 25-26, 2008 to conduct interviews with individuals who play important roles in the university's teacher preparation program. These interviews, along with additional documentation provided by MSU and identified by the AED research…

The purpose of this study was to describe and assess the collaborative process of curriculum design and implementation that evolved in the context of a school-university partnership. Research questions driving this study were: (1) why do mentor teachers and university faculty in a school-university partnership choose to become involved in a…

Interviews with participants in a professional development school identified expectations of the partnership (student focus, better trained teachers), positive outcomes (real-world experience for student teachers, extra attention for students, professional growth for participating teachers), and problems (communication between school and…

This narrative relates personal experiences from the establishment of a professional development school. It discusses the conceptual foundation from which professional development schools (PDS) have emerged, the PDS mission, roles of various participants, and support for the professional education of teachers and for the improvement of practice.…

Although professional development schools are vehicles for reform, getting them "online" can overshadow the spirit of collaborative egalitarianism essential for success. One solution is to involve teachers and professors in resolving an immediate professional problem associated with school improvement or teacher preparation. The decision…

Describes the role of boundary spanners, who facilitate the development of school/university partnerships. After describing the ideal partnership, offers examples of real issues that emerge when building partnerships and analyzes the surreal aspects of boundary spanning. Concludes with specific suggestions for developing school/university…

Examines four years of a partnership between a middle school and a university, focusing on how the partners have used a vision of equitable education as an organizing concept for transforming existing collaborative relationships into a professional-development school framework. Combines viewpoints of a teacher, an administrator, and a university…