Collaborating with Urban Professional Development Schools to Effectively Prepare Elementary Urban Teachers: Embedding Pre-Service Teachers in Authentic Urban Settings

Why The Urban Elementary School Partnerships Developed

Overall, the mission of the PDS partnerships aims to raise student achievement, strengthen teaching practices, and nurture PST by working with master teachers and being actively engaged in the school community. The goal in developing and continuing a PDS partnership is to encourage collaboration between university faculty, administrators, and teachers, to determine specific areas of need, develop a plan of action, and implement that plan for improvement in those areas identified. This can be in the form of professional development, small meetings, mentoring, providing hands-on assistance, providing materials, or partnering in planning and implementing parent nights. A further goal is to provide an authentic setting where PST are able to observe and apply theories taught in their education courses. The overall goal for the university and the PDS is to leverage the partnership in order to raise student achievement and provide an opportunity that is mutually beneficial to both partners. Students at the school sites are benefiting from the network in multiple ways: teachers are receiving individualized, ongoing, meaningful PD and our PST provide classroom assistance with whole class, small groups and one-on-one enrichment, re-teaching, and mentoring. These are only a few reasons the development of urban PDS partners not only furthers the education profession; but, also advances equity within schools and the broader community.

The partnerships in the two particular urban elementary schools were initially developed for strategic reasons. In the first school partnership, a university faculty member had worked for two years on developing and implementing professional development (PD) to help bolster the literacy skills of the classroom teachers. PD sessions were focused on developing a shared understanding of the Balanced Literacy Approach. On-going professional development sessions were conducted over a one-year period. Some sessions were whole school, some focused on specific grade or skill or comfort levels, while others were individualized to meet needs of individual teachers with specific topics such as Word Study instruction. This deliberate and tailored instruction has allowed this particular school to become a literacy leader and model school for the county as well as the state.