P6 - Signalisation2000...her name across the front cover in sparkly purple pen. Yet, students had been asked not to write in the books. Megan sighed, making a mental note to be more

PDS Partners

Pre-Service Teachers and Sixth Graders: Learning from Each OtherJana Hunzicker, Bradley University Megan Hickey, Concordia Lutheran School Alyssa McClenthen, St. Mark Catholic School Teresa Biddison, Roosevelt Magnet School

When pre-service teacher Megan Hickey provided sixth grade student Mariah (not her real name) with a color-copied text to kick off an interdisciplinary unit about health and science, Mariah beamed brightly and proceeded to write her name across the front cover in sparkly purple pen. Yet, students had been asked not to write in the books. Megan sighed, making a mental note to be more explicit with her directions next time. So began a semester-long classroom partnership between pre-service teachers enrolled in an advanced language arts instructional methods course at Bradley University and a sixth grade class at nearby Roosevelt Magnet School.

The PartnersThe Bradley Professional Development Schools (PDS) Partnership strives “to promote academic and professional development for P-12 students, pre-professionals, practitioners, and professors” (Bradley University, 2013a, para. 1.) In collaboration with eight Peoria, Illinois schools, the Bradley PDS Partnership supports learner-centered projects and initiatives related to five goals: 1) support and improve student learning and achievement, 2) prepare professionals in education and health sciences, 3) provide lifelong learning experiences and leadership opportunities, 4) promote best practices in teaching, learning, and leadership through professional development, action research, and scholarship, and 5) support the health and well-being of students, their families, and the professionals who work with them (Bradley University, 2013b, para. 1.)

Roosevelt Magnet School, one of Bradley’s eight PDS sites, is a district-wide center for students talented in performing and fine arts. During the 2012-2013 academic year, Roosevelt served 716 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. That year, 93% of Roosevelt students were non-white, 90% were low income, 9% had individualized education plans (IEPs), 5% were limited-English proficient, and 2.4% were homeless (Illinois School Report Card, 2013.) Moreover, the school’s chronic truancy rate was 39%, the mobility rate was 32%, and the attendance rate was 93% (Illinois School Report Card, 2013.) Mrs. Teresa Biddison, one of three sixth grade teachers at Roosevelt during 2012-2013, described her class of 28 students as academically and behaviorally challenging. Indeed, on the 2013 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) reading assessment,

Interns and InternshipThe Importance of the Internship Supervisor

P6

PDS Partners and PartnershipsMaking a Priority of the Part-nership

P12

PDS Inquiries and IdeasMiles of Progress: Our Journey into Distance Supervision

P20

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1 Summer 2016

Pre-Service Teachers CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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2017 NAPDS Conference, Washington, DC, March 9-11 ⏎

INTERNS AND INTERNSHIP P1Pre-service Teachers and Sixth Graders: Learning from Each Other

INTERNS AND INTERNSHIP P6The Importance of the Internship Supervisor

INTERNS AND INTERNSHIP P7How Teacher Candidates and Mentor Teachers use the edTPA to Monitor and Improve the Teacher Candidate Experience: How the edTPA Can Build Collaboration in PDS Partnershps

INTERNS AND INTERNSHIP P9The Rules and Challenges of Classroom Management for Secondary Student Interns

PDS PARTNERS AND PARTNERSHIPS P12Making a Priority of the Partnership

PDS PARTNERS AND PARTNERSHIPS P15What do the “Kids” Say: How Middle School Students in Two Partnership Schools Evaluated High Quality STEM Trade Books

PDS PARTNERS AND PARTNERSHIPS P17Science Nights: PDS Partnerships Create Informal Learning Opportunities

PDS PARTNERS AND PARTNERSHIPS P19Teach to Learn: One Example of the Many PDS Partnership Programs

PDS INQUIRIES AND IDEAS P20Miles of Progress: Our Journey into Distance Supervision

Greetings from the National Association for Professional Development Schools’ (NAPDS) Leadership Team. It brings us great pleasure to present you with one of the benefits of your membership in this wonderful publication. As you may know, over the past year, our Leadership Team has worked hard to establish its own identity whose membership benefits includes a high quality conference and two highly professional publication in this PDS Partners magazine and our School-University Partnerships journal. We also have provided our on-line Stories from the Field blog posts found on our NAPDS website www.napds.org.

As you are enjoying your summer break, we hope that you will enjoy these articles in our magazine that will inspire you to you continue your PDS work as a school-university partnership when returning in the fall. These articles were written following our wonderful spring conference in Washington, DC. We also hope that reading it encourages you to put into writing the story of your partnership and reflects the good work that you are doing.

As this magazine is being published, our NAPDS Conference Committee is hard at work preparing for another professional conference in Washington, DC. If you are interested in helping with our conference, please contact Jean Eagle at [email protected] and/or Audra Parker at [email protected]. Our Leadership Team has decided to return to the Hilton Doubletree for next year’s conference hoping that the “mojo” continues to solidify our membership with its high numbers of attendees. We also strive to further establish ourselves as the premier organization for PDS work.

Over the past year, we have begun having conversations to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and

the American Educational Research Association (AERA). We look forward to finding those collaborative opportunities and building upon them. Your ideas are welcome, as we know that a number of our members are also members of these various organizations.

As your 2016-17 president, I am pleased to represent PreK-12 institutions along with others on our NAPDS Leadership Team in collaboration with numerous university partnerships so that we continue to make the future of PDS work bright. Over the past year, as your president-elect and now president, I have found the work to be both personally and professionally rewarding. My hope is that there are people in the both PreK-12 and University partnerships who would be willing to consider running for election to the NAPDS Leadership Team. Please consider running for this office and others announced as the call for nominations goes out. I guarantee that you will find the work to be wonderful and satisfying as you help chart the course of PDS work across our country and the world.

If you are interested in supporting our Leadership Team in any way, whether it is to consider election to open offices, participation in Leadership Team committees, or to share ideas that you think may be valuable to our organization, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. This is your organization, so it is important that you be involved and have your voice be a part of PDS partnership work.

Thank you again for becoming a member of the National Association for Professional Development Schools. We are grateful that you have joined us on our journey to make PDS a driving force in teacher education and in the continuing professional development of teachers in our schools. We strongly believe in the nature of our work and are appreciative of your interest in providing the best for our children and the future of education.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENTDonnan Stoicovy

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PDS PARTNERS EDITORSRon Siers, Jr., Senior Editor, Salisbury UniversityCathy Ramey, Assistant Editor, Mardela Middle and High SchoolSara Elburn, Assistant Editor, Salisbury UniversityKim McCormick, Assistant Editor, Towson UniversityEmily Hoffman, Assistant Editor, Salisbury UniversityJenny McFadden, Assistant Editor, Salisbury UniversityINTERNS AND THE INTERNSHIPRon Siers, Jr., Salisbury University, [email protected] Ramey, Mardela Middle and High School, [email protected] PARTNERS & PARTNERSHIPSCoralee Smith, Buffalo State College, [email protected] Wendell, Saint Christopher School, [email protected]

PDS RESEARCHERS & RESEARCHRon Beebe, University of Houston-Downtown, [email protected] Marker, Scarborough Elementary School, [email protected]

PDS INQUIRIES & IDEASKaren Foster, Alabama A&M, [email protected] Douthit, MLK, Jr. Elementary School, [email protected] DEVELOPMENT & PDSBelinda Karge, California State University-Fullerton, [email protected] Cunningham, Mariposa Elementary School, [email protected]

PDS & ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS/COMMUNITY SETTINGSJoAnne Ferrara, Manhattanville College, [email protected] Terracciano, Thomas A. Edison Elementary School, [email protected] Simmons, Thomas A. Edison Elementary School, [email protected]

only 16% of Roosevelt sixth grade students met or exceeded state standards (Illinois School Report Card, 2013), and more than half of Mrs. Biddison’s students received at least one office-level disciplinary referral during the course of the school year.

In August 2012, less than a mile away in Bradley University’s Department of Teacher Education, Dr. Jana Hunzicker was thinking about ways to enliven her advanced language arts teaching methods course. Emphasizing instructional integration of reading and writing for students in grades three through eight, the course was organized around Tompkins’ (2009) four patterns of practice (i.e., literature focus unit, literature circles, reading/writing workshop, and thematic units) with class time spent on lecture, discussion, simulation activities, and writing lesson plans. The course was adequate as it was, but partnering with an upper elementary classroom so that pre-service teachers could actually implement literacy-based lessons for actual students would make the course more authentic for pre-service teachers – and beneficial for student learners as well.

The PlanningWhen Dr. Hunzicker approached Roosevelt’s principal about partnering with an upper elementary classroom, it was discovered that the sixth grade language arts block met during the same time as the 75 minute advanced literacy methods course. The principal suggested a partnership with Mrs. Biddison’s sixth grade class, and then made a request. Following 50 minutes of literacy instruction, the principal asked that the Bradley pre-service teachers spend the remaining 25 minutes serving as fitness buddies during the class’s daily P.E. time. She explained that due to a glitch in the master schedule the sixth grade classroom teachers were responsible for teaching P.E., and she thought Mrs. Biddison would appreciate the extra assistance. When Mrs. Biddison heard about the idea, she was delighted.

The idea of serving as fitness buddies seemed unrelated to literacy instruction until Dr. Hunzicker found the non-fiction text Get Moving: All about Muscles by Lisa Trumbauer (www.readinga-z.com). After having 28 color copies of the book printed, Dr. Hunzicker formulated a plan for a five day interdisciplinary unit that incorporated reading, writing, science, and P.E./health (see Table 1). Together, Mrs. Biddison and Dr. Hunzicker selected five meeting dates and paired each pre-service teacher with one or two sixth grade students.

The ProcessTwo weeks prior to the first classroom visit, the Bradley pre-service teachers wrote friendly letters to their student(s), and the sixth grade students wrote back. The pre-service teachers used the friendly letters to learn about their students’ interests and informally assess their students’

literacy skills. All classroom visits took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30-11:45 a.m. During the first two visits, pre-service teachers introduced one or two reading comprehension strategies, modeled the strategy(s), and encouraged their students to use the strategy(s) while reading the Get Moving text together. The reading comprehension strategies included infer/predict, monitor/clarify, identify important information, question, summarize, synthesize, visualize, make connections, and evaluate (Cooper, Kiger, Robinson, & Slansky, 2012).

Two weeks later, during the third classroom visit, the pre-service teachers introduced a vocabulary strategy, modeled the strategy, and then worked with their students to apply it to one, two, or three vocabulary words from the Get Moving text. The vocabulary strategies included word maps (Cooper et al., 2012), word questioning (Bintz, 2011), and semantic feature analysis (Cooper et al., 2012). Three weeks later, during the fourth and fifth classroom visits, pre-service teachers engaged their students in organizing and writing an expository essay that incorporated the vocabulary words learned during the third classroom visit, engaged students in Tompkins’ (2009) five stages of the writing process (i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing), included the use of a graphic organizer during the prewriting stage, and required students to self-assess their work using a student-friendly checklist during the revising and editing stages. Following the final classroom visit, pre-service teachers word-processed and “published” their students’ writings on decorative paper and provided feedback via analytic assessment rubrics they had constructed themselves.

All lessons were based on Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts and all were structured using Cooper and colleagues’ (2012) mini-lesson framework: introduction, teacher modeling, student modeling and guided practice, summarizing and reflecting, independent practice, application, reflection and closure. Lesson plans were due for grading several

days following implementation so that pre-service teachers could make revisions based on insights gained during the instructional process. In addition to the lesson plans themselves, pre-service teachers were required to reflect in writing about the following for each section of the mini-lesson framework: usefulness, student responses and teachable moments, modifications made (or suggested for future instruction), and overall assessment (e.g., what went well, what didn’t work, etc.) The following sections describe the instructional experience from the perspectives of two pre-service teachers, Megan and Alyssa, who participated in the PDS classroom partnership.

Visits 1 and 2: Reading Comprehension StrategyDuring the first two visits to Roosevelt, Bradley pre-service teachers taught their sixth grade students a reading comprehension strategy. Megan, who was assigned to work with two students, chose the strategy of questioning supplemented by the use of t-notes. Her lesson began with a brief explanation and demonstration of the strategy, in which she posed a question related to the first portion of the text. Using a t-notes template she had created in advance, Megan scanned the first paragraph while her sixth-grade students observed. She selected the term involuntary muscle, explaining that she didn’t know its meaning. After modeling how to write the question in her t-notes, find the answer in the text, and record the answer in her t-notes, Megan provided her students with a step-by-step handout and asked them to join her in posing another question.

She reflected later, “A misspelling on the handout was turned into a teachable moment when I asked them to identify the word that had been printed incorrectly. Soon, they began posing their own questions as I stood by. They alternated reading pages aloud, writing down their questions at the end of each page. They were excited about the text and demonstrating their reading skills because they argued over who would read each page!” When Megan asked her students

Interns and Internship

Table 1: Classroom Partnership Timeline, Instructional Activities, and Content Area(s)

Date Instructional Activity Content Area(s)

Friendly letters exchanged writing, reading

October 16th Get acquainted, introduce Get Moving text, and read together reading

October 18th Reading comprehension strategy reading, science, health

November 6th Vocabulary strategy reading, science, health, writing

November 27th Writing mini-unit – Day 1 writing, science, health, reading

November 29th Writing mini-unit – Day 2 writing, science, health, reading

P.E. fitness stations (immediately following literacy instruction) P.E./health

Pre-Service Teachers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1



to come up with other places they could use the questioning strategy, one suggested textbooks in her history or science classes or maybe when reading a new book for fun. To end the lesson, Megan gave both students a crossword puzzle based on vocabulary words from the text to do on their own. However, they were not able to take the Get Moving texts with them, which made the puzzles more challenging.

Visit 3: Vocabulary StrategyDuring the third visit to Roosevelt, Bradley pre-service teachers taught sixth grade students a strategy they could use to understand the meanings of unfamiliar words. Alyssa, who worked with a different sixth grader during each visit due to excessive student absences, taught three vocabulary words using the word map strategy.

After informally assessing her students’ prior knowledge of the words flexibility, exercise, and aerobic activity, Alyssa showed them a word map she had prepared in advance for the word stretching. After locating the example word in the Get Moving text, Alyssa modeled how to use the text to answer three questions on the word map: What is it? What is it like? What are some examples? She showed each student how to use context clues within the Get Moving text to support their understanding of the new vocabulary word and help them answer each question.

During guided practice, the question, “What is it like?” challenged Alyssa’s student “Amy” (pseudonym). This prompted a discussion about synonyms, which helped Amy gain a deeper understanding of how to use that particular section of the word map strategy. Alyssa then allowed Amy to practice the strategy with the three other vocabulary words. Through this guided practice, Amy seemed to grasp the strategy and gain confidence using it. Alyssa later reflected, “This section of the lesson was extremely useful for Amy as it allowed her to test out the strategy on their own. She could ask for assistance when she did not fully understand, which provided a cushion for her and gave her the confidence boost she needed to move to independent practice.”

Before concluding the lesson, Alyssa engaged Amy in a discussion about how the word map strategy could be used in other subjects. Amy expressed that she believed the strategy would be useful when reading material in other subject areas. She felt the strategy would be most useful in English class, when there are a lot of vocabulary words, or in a class like science where there are a lot of unfamiliar words. Alyssa also talked with Amy about how she could use the strategy even if she did not have the word boxes in front of her, which would allow her to use the strategy any time she encountered an unfamiliar word.

Visits 4 and 5: Writing Mini-UnitDuring the fourth and fifth visits to Roosevelt, Bradley pre-service teachers led the sixth graders in writing a paragraph-long essay on

a self-selected topic related to the Get Moving text. Megan chose to teach problem/solution expository writing with the incorporation of compound sentences. She asked her student Mariah to determine a health and/or wellness problem and at least three ways she could go about solving it. Mariah’s favorite vocabulary word from the Get Moving text was gluteus maximus, which led her to settle on the problem of how to keep her gluteus maximus in shape. Using a box-web outline that Megan provided, Mariah wrote down possible solutions to the problem, which included running, sitting down/standing up, and doing aerobics stretches.

Megan also wanted Mariah to incorporate at least one compound sentence into her paragraph, but Mariah was unfamiliar with them. The two worked together using sentences Megan had written in advance to distinguish compound from simple sentences. Megan recalled, “While working, Mariah wanted to replace the names in the sentences with her own name, which made them more relatable to her. Soon, she had a solid grasp of compound sentences and practiced her new knowledge by writing a few of her own.”

During the final visit, Mariah wrote her essay using her box-web outline. When she began prewriting, she was nervous that she would leave something out, so Megan gave her a student friendly copy of the assessment checklist so that she could double check her work. This alleviated Mariah’s anxiety. Afterward, Megan reflected, “I originally wasn’t going to run through the checklist since we had already discussed the requirements of the paragraph, but going over it definitely helped her.” As their time together drew to a close, Megan recalled, “I had time to ask Mariah how finishing her paragraph felt, but then it was time to pack up our things and head to P.E. stations. I should have allotted more time so that I could get more feedback from Mariah. If I taught this section again, I would allow more time to ask what part of writing the paragraph was most difficult and what part she found easiest.”

Megan took Mariah’s essay home to “publish” by word processing and printing it on special

paper (Tompkins, 2009). She chose paper with decorative, purple borders since she had learned early on that purple was Mariah’s favorite color. After Megan assessed the essay using a rubric she had constructed herself, the published copy was returned to Mariah, along with supportive comments from Megan. To further recognize her students’ writing efforts, Mrs. Biddison displayed all of the published writings in Roosevelt’s main hallway.

P.E. Fitness StationsThe P.E. fitness stations were held immediately following literacy instruction during each classroom visit. A team of five pre-service teachers led each

station, and sixth grade students rotated to a new station every five minutes. The four stations were strength, flexibility, balance, and aerobics. At the strength station, students did push-ups and sit-ups to build muscle using their own body weight. At the flexibility station, they engaged in various forms of stretching. At the balance station, students walked a line on the gym floor and stood on one foot for as long as they could, and at the aerobics station they ran in place, did jumping jacks, and danced. Alyssa recalled, “We tried to play dance music using our phones, but it wasn’t loud enough. To our surprise, the students danced anyway!” To encourage participation from all students, the pre-service teachers also took part in many of the exercises, which made the stations more fun for everyone.

Although the P.E. fitness stations were added at the request of the principal, they enriched the classroom partnership in several ways. First, the fitness stations modeled simple exercises that students could do anywhere, anytime, without special equipment or advanced skills. Second, they authentically extended the content of the literacy lessons. For example, while exercising the pre-service teachers encouraged the sixth graders to explain what they were doing and how it related to the Get Moving text. The pre-service teachers also incorporated vocabulary words and concepts from the text, allowing students to make connections between the literacy lessons and real world experiences. Third, the pre-service teachers were able to scaffold the stations from

THE BRADLEY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS (PDS) PARTNERSHIP STRIVES “TO PROMOTE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR P-12 STUDENTS, PRE-PROFESSIONALS, PRACTITIONERS, AND PROFESSORS”

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visit to visit, gradually transferring leadership to the sixth grade students. During the first visit, the pre-service teachers led the stations and modeled how to do each exercise. During the second and third visits, they encouraged the sixth graders to state why each exercise was beneficial for physical health. During the final two visits, the sixth graders led the fitness stations, directing both their peers and the pre-service teachers. At the balance station, for example, the sixth graders added the extra challenge of standing on one foot for one minute with eyes closed.

Closing RemarksCurrent research supports teacher preparation that engages pre-service teachers with students in the community (Jurow, Tracy, Hotchkiss, & Kirshner, 2012), emphasizes the design and implementation of a series of lessons that are responsive to student needs (Education Digest, 2013), and requires reflective critique of lesson development and delivery as well as deeper levels of reflection (Etscheidt, Curran, & Sawyer, 2012). Moreover, studies indicate a positive relationship between physical activity and student learning (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010).

The Roosevelt-Bradley classroom PDS partnership provided several authentic learning experiences for the pre-service teachers who participated. Instead of simply creating lesson plans that were graded and returned, pre-service teachers created a sequence of five lesson plans that integrated four academic content areas and actively engaged students in the practice of literacy, thinking, and fitness skills. Rather than selecting their own topics and materials and creating generic lesson plans for fictitious students, they used a prescribed lesson plan template and text (as many will be expected to do in their future classrooms) and integrated knowledge of their students via information

from the friendly letters and direct interaction, observation, and informal assessment during instructional time. Moreover, the section-by-section written reflections included in the lesson plans submitted for grading encouraged the pre-service teachers to thoughtfully consider the effectiveness of their planning and instruction based on the responses and outcomes of actual students. Eight months following the project, Mariah, with her sparkly purple pen, recalled the experience as “good” and “fun.” Hopefully, she and her classmates learned something too!

References

Bintz, W. P. (2011). Teaching vocabulary across the curriculum. Middle School Journal 42(4), 44-53.

Bradley University (2013a). Professional development schools: Mission & history. Retrieved from http://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/ehs/centers/kemper/mission/

Bradley University (2013b). Professional development schools: Goals. Retrieved from http://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/ehs/centers/kemper/goals/

Cooper, Kiger, Robinson, & Slansky (2012). Literacy: Helping Students Construct Meaning (7th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Education Digest. (2013). National launch of edTPA. Education Digest, 78(5), 50-52.

Etscheidt, S., Curran, C. M., & Sawyer, C. M. (2012). Promoting reflection in teacher preparation programs: A multilevel model. Teacher Education and Special Education, 35(1), 7-26.

Illinois School Report Card (2013). Roosevelt Magnet School. Peoria SD 150. Peoria, Illinois. Retrieved from http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2013&code=4807215002028_ e.pdf

Jurow, S. A., Tracy, R., Hotchkiss, J. S., & Kirshner, B. (2012). Designing for the future: How the learning sciences can inform the trajectories of preservice teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 63, 147-160.

Tompkins, G. E. (2009). Language arts: Patterns of practice (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health. (2010). The association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/pdf/pa-pe_paper.pdf

Jana Hunzicker is an Associate Professor at Bradley University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Megan Hickey is a First Grade Teacher at Concordia Lutheran School; she can be reached at [email protected]. Alyssa McClenthen is a Second Grade Teacher at St. Mark Catholic School; she can be reached at [email protected].

Teresa Biddison is a Fourth Grade Teacher at Roosevelt Magnet School; she can be reached at [email protected].

PDS Partners Call for Submissions

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The Importance of the Internship SupervisorGray Jack and MaryLouise Fineran, Salisbury University Danielle Dunn, Showell Elementary School Tanya Call, Buckingham Elementary School

Coach, cheerleader, overseer, and counselor are just some of the words that can be used to describe the job of an internship supervisor. These words are particularly accurate in characterizing the role of a field experience supervisor. The book, Preparing Teachers for A Changing World, underscores the importance of the supervisor’s role in an education intern’s experience. It specifies, “The nature of the support during clinical work appears to be critical in enabling preservice teachers to make sense of their experience and learn from it.” (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2007).

An intern supervisor is responsible for managing weekly contact with the intern, conducting formal classroom observations, scheduling regular debriefing sessions to discuss strengths and areas of improvement, and maintaining a relationship with the mentor teacher. Supervisors play an important role in shaping an intern’s experience. Below, an intern, mentor teacher, and supervisor share their views on how a supervisor contributes to the success of an internship with a Professional Development School (PDS).

INTERN: Danielle Dunn, a Salisbury University student who completed an internship during the Spring 2014 semester under the guidance of two supervisors, describes a good supervisor as one who is enthusiastic, flexible, effective, has a positive attitude, gives constructive feedback in a timely manner, and is an excellent listener. She emphasizes that a supervisor should have a passion for education and should motivate the interns to reach their fullest potential.

Danielle’s comments underscore the importance of having a supervisor observe interns in the classroom. During her internship, she found the feedback she received from her supervisors during classroom observation particularly beneficial. While feedback from her mentor teacher was equally as helpful, Danielle noted that sometimes supervisors detect aspects of a lesson that a mentor teacher may not notice. She explained that while the intern acts as the lead teacher in the room, the mentor teacher monitors behavior and keeps students on task. The mentor teacher cannot always have his or her full attention on the intern who is teaching because they are also observing all of the students in the room. Having a supervisor watch how an intern implements their pedagogy, how the students react to those student teachers, and give professional feedback is very important in the process of student interns’ progress.

Danielle describes a supervisor as someone with whom interns should be able to share

their “wow” moments, concerns, and ideas. Throughout an internship, interns learn a lot about themselves and their teaching style. The role of the supervisor is to guide them in the right direction with constructive feedback, scaffolding, and suggestions while giving interns the freedom to figure out some things on their own. Effective supervisors give interns guidance, but also allow them to be independent and make their own decisions.

The supervisor’s role is not only to help student interns develop and refine their skills, but also to help foster the relationship between the mentor and intern so that the internship is a positive, beneficial experience for everyone involved. A supervisor helps to make sure that the intern and mentor teacher are working well together, collaborating, and using effective co-teaching strategies to benefit everyone in the classroom.

MENTOR: Tanya Call is a kindergarten teacher and PDS mentor at Buckingham Elementary School in Berlin, Maryland. She feels a supervisor should be patient, supportive, enthusiastic, and passionate about teaching. Tanya believes in the importance of empathy. She states that it is important for supervisors to remember what it was like to be new and timid in the classroom.

She also believes a supervisor should embrace their role and be excited about the prospect of helping to shape a future teacher. This not only requires empathy and optimism, but also honest feedback. Supervisors should praise an intern’s strengths, but should also speak candidly to the intern about what needs to be corrected. In addition, they should provide support when needed, and offer constructive feedback in a timely manner.

Tanya says a supervisor ’s attitude and commitment to open, honest communication determines the course of the internship. For an internship to be effective, Tanya believes that supervisors must maintain a positive attitude, encourage frequent dialogue between all involved parties, and continue to foster a relationship with the cooperating mentor teacher.

SUPERVISOR: Mary Lou Finneran is an intern supervisor who has been working with Salisbury University teaching candidates for a number of years. She believes an effective supervisor needs to be empathetic, approach the internship as a learning opportunity for the future teacher, and recognize that the intern is still developing and refining his or her classroom skills. Mary Lou posits that supervisors need to encourage interns when they are struggling and challenge them when they appear to plateau or stagnate during the internship. She adds that supervisors need to stay abreast of changes in the world of education. They need to be familiar with effective pedagogical practices while be able to

offer suggested improvements and strategies that will enhance student learning. She feels that a primary characteristic of a supervisor is to be able to mediate differences that may arise between the intern and mentor. There may be a time when the mentor and the intern have philosophical differences. If this happens, the supervisor can help steer the course in a more positive direction.

Mary Lou feels that it is the supervisor’s responsibility to make sure the internship goes as smoothly as possible. To accomplish this, the supervisor should determine an intern’s strengths, identify goals, and help design an effective internship experience to allow him or her reach those goals. Lastly, Mary Lou advocates for a supervisor who is accessible and dependable, making sure to visit the student intern at least once a week throughout the internship experience. They should also provide the necessary support and tools to help guide the intern and mentor teacher through the experience.

In conclusion, a supervisor significantly influences an intern’s experience, and therefore should not be considered lightly. It is crucial that a supervisor helps create a positive experience for all involved, especially the intern as this pre-teaching experience can set the tone for the remainder of their career. A supervisor introduces the intern to the real world of teaching, not just what is presented in academia. Their job is to assist and guide interns throughout their journey of discovering who they are as teachers. Not only do effective supervisors provide constructive feedback and identify best practices in the classroom, they also introduce interns to new ideas and help increase their confidence as the lead teacher in a classroom. Our Professional Development School partnership provides an environment for intern success, supervisor guidance, and mentor growth. At the conclusion of a successful internship experience, an intern should feel prepared and excited for their future in the classroom.

References

Darling-Hammond, L., Bransford, J., LePage, P., & Hammerness, K. (2007). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA.

Gray Jack is a PDS Liaison & Supervisor at Salisbury University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Danielle Dunn was a Salisbury University Intern; she can be reached at [email protected]. Tanya Call is a PDS Mentor at Buckingham Elementary School; she can be reached at [email protected]. Mary Louise Fineran is a Salisbury University Supervisor; she can be reached at [email protected].

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How Teacher Candidates and Mentor Teachers Use the edTPA to Monitor and Improve the Teacher Candidate Experience: How the edTPA Can Build Collaboration in PDS PartnershipsStephen Schroth, Ocie Watson-Thompson, Janese Daniels, M. Lisa Mason, Judith Cruzado-Guerrero, Lea Ann Christenson, Marisa Dudiak, Towson University

IntroductionMany teacher preparation programs have developed Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships in an effort to provide their teacher candidates with a realistic, rich, and representative classroom experience where they can work with mentor teachers and children (Pepper, Hartman, Blackwell, & Monroe, 2012; Siers & Gong, 2012). The benefits for the teacher education program, and its teacher candidates, are many: access to placements, exposure to master teachers, and the opportunity to become part of a learning community (Galassi, White, Vesilind, & Bryan, 2001; Ikpeze, Broikou, Hildenbrand, & Gladstone-Brown, 2012). Similarly, teachers at the PDS have access to on-site professional development, the latest instructional strategies, and other training that benefits them and their students (Breault, 2014; Burrows, 2015). When a teacher education program adopts new summative assessments such as the edTPA, however, all members of the partnership may have questions. How will the new summative assessment change the relationship between the mentor teacher and the intern? What professional development or training opportunities will be necessary to make all interested parties familiar with the new summative assessment? May mentor teachers become scorers of the new summative assessment? Do the interests of the partnership members alter as a result of this change?

Happily, when worked on by all members of the partnership, such changes can strengthen the communication, commitment, and clarity of the PDS arrangement (Colwell, MacIsaac, Tichenor, Heins, & Piechura, 2014; Shroyer, Yahnke, Bennett, & Dunn, 2007). Indeed, the richer the involvement of all members of the PDS partnership, the better the results for the new teachers that result from those efforts (Damore, Kapustka, & McDevitt, 2011; Ridley, Hurwitz, Hackett, & Miller, 2005). When our department recently adopted the edTPA as the culminating project for our program, there was initial uncertainty on the part of many stakeholders. Few were certain what supports, modifications, and adjustments would be necessary to ensure that all were best able to support our teacher candidates (Burns, Yendol-Hoppey, & Jacobs, 2015; Smith-D’Arezzo, 2011; Snow-Gerono, 2009). University faculty, university supervisors, PDS liaisons, mentor teachers, and interns all felt uncertain about how to proceed. As the year progressed, however, certain needs became apparent, and the supports to ameliorate these were planned and implemented. Perhaps

most importantly, the stronger communication engendered by the edTPA process led to better ongoing and reciprocal professional development for all participants, as it was guided by needs disclosed as part of the process.

The edTPAIn order to assure that new teachers are “classroom ready,” the edTPA was created to determine whether teacher candidates are ready for their own classrooms (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Hollins, 2015; SCALE, 2015). The edTPA is a culminating task that assesses teacher candidates’ ability to plan and deliver instruction and assess student learning (SCALE, 2015). The edTPA is a subject-specific assessment that has versions in 27 different teaching fields (Hollins, 2015; SCALE, 2015). All versions of the edTPA evaluate a new teacher’s skills at planning, instruction, assessment, analyzing teaching, and vocabulary development (SCALE, 2015). In particular, the edTPA asks teacher candidates to collect, reflect upon, and use information about each student’s background, learning preferences, talents and needs, and other factors (SCALE, 2015).

With the number of teachers with three or fewer years of experience topping 15% nationally, many have expressed a desire to ensure that new teachers possess the confidence and skills necessary to succeed in a variety of settings. To date, twelve states have adopted the edTPA as a preparation requirement for new teachers, as a requirement for initial certification or licensure, or as part of the accreditation process for institutions engaged in teacher preparation, with others considering doing so (AACTE, 2015). Teacher preparation programs in 39 states use the edTPA to determine that new teachers have entry-level teaching skills and demonstrate readiness for the classroom (AACTE, 2015). If a teacher candidate completes the edTPA, and receives a score showing proficiency or better, he or she will be issued a teaching certificate or license providing that other program and state requirements are fulfilled (Darling-Hammond, 2013b; Hollins, 2015; Levine, 2006). Some programs or states permit candidates whose scores narrowly miss passing to redo those sections that were inadequate (Darling-Hammond, 2013a; Hollins, 2015). Other candidates must redo the edTPA, and sometimes even repeat student teaching if they wish to receive certification or licensure (Darling-Hammond, 2013a; Darling-Hammond, 2013b; SCALE, 2015).

Benefits of Collaboration for PDS PartnersAll members of a PDS partnership stand to benefit from the implementation of the edTPA by

a teacher education program. When first faced with the decision of whether or not to implement the edTPA, we had the advantage of the three years’ experience another department in our college had with this assessment. We determined that training in the parts and tasks of the edTPA was necessary for our early childhood education faculty, and we began this process in the fall semester of the year preceding our planned implementation of the assessment. Beginning our professional development for faculty a year early permitted us the opportunity to hold three distinct training sessions, one each during the fall semester, spring semester, and summer before the term in which we used it with the teacher candidates. Certainly one advantage of beginning a year before implementation was to provide department faculty the time to deep dive into the handbooks and various other materials associated with the edTPA. This timeframe also permitted faculty working with teacher candidates the term before they would use the edTPA to introduce various tasks from it to them so that the interns could become familiar with the vocabulary, structure, and demands of the assessment. This was to prove invaluable during the semester of implementation, as the faculty’s time could be directed at supporting the interns, rather than teaching them about the edTPA.

As our mentor teachers learned about the edTPA through meetings scheduled by our faculty edTPA advisory board, they were able to help shape the professional development they would receive so that they would best be able to support their teacher candidates. This session was held during the summer shortly before the academic semester began, and was attended by almost all of the mentor teachers during a day-long session held on campus. For the mentors who attended, the department provided breakfast, lunch, and a stipend. The ability to interact with the tasks, the handbook, and other training materials left the mentor teachers feeling confident that they would be able to support the teacher candidates in their room with the edTPA.

As a department, most of our faculty have PDS roles—this helps to keep the message consistent through PDS meetings and strategic planning sessions that involve the entire group. We decided to choose what is termed “local evaluation” of the edTPA electronic portfolios. This is an option in some states to official scoring by Pearson Education, which SCALE uses to score the edTPA in some jurisdictions. For us to be able to have the edTPA tasks submitted electronically and evaluated by our faculty online, we needed to choose a secure integrated edTPA platform upon which this could occur. A variety of these integrated edTPA platforms have been approved by SCALE,



including Chalk & Wire, Data180, Digication, Edthena, Foliotek, Lessoncast, LiveText, PASS-PORT, ShowEvidence, TaskStream, and Tk20. After considering several of these, we chose TaskStream as best being able to meet our needs. Although the integrated edTPA platforms are both customizable and provide user support, there is a learning curve for teacher candidates, faculty, and the edTPA coordinator. Time for learning how to use the integrated edTPA platform must be built into the process.

At the end of the fall semester, all 24 of the 24 teacher candidates who submitted edTPA electronic portfolios were evaluated as being successful. We had purposefully chosen the fall term to begin, as this semester usually has only about half of the number of teacher candidates completing the program as the spring semester. As mentor teachers saw the edTPA’s rigorous focus on planning, instruction, and assessment, many asked if they could become more involved in the process. To that end, we invited 16 mentors to an all-day Saturday training session that focused upon edTPA evaluation. A total of 14 mentors were able to come, all of whom successfully calibrated and met inter-rater reliability standards regarding their evaluation of teacher candidate work. Just as importantly, all 14 agreed to evaluate portfolios for us in the future.

ConclusionSuccessful PDS partnerships work to assure that all nine National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) essentials for a successful PDS relationship are met. While we found that implementing the edTPA enhanced all nine essentials, it was especially useful in strengthening and reinvigorating the ongoing and reciprocal professional development for all participants that was guided by need. While we had always used surveys, our teacher advisory board, and needs assessments to shape the professional development offered to all stakeholders, we found that the discussions and reflections of practice generated by the edTPA empowered the mentor teachers to take a greater leadership role than ever before in shaping the professional development opportunities for all of us.

References

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). (2015). About edTPA:\ Overview. edTPA. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://edtpa.aacte.org/about-edtpa#Overview-0

Breault, R. (2014). Power and perspective: The discourse of professional development school literature. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 42(1), 22-35.

Burns, R. W., Yendol-Hoppey, D., & Jacobs, J. (2015). High-Quality Teaching Requires Collaboration: How Partnerships Can Create a True Continuum of Professional Learning for Educators. Educational

Forum, 79(1), 53. doi:10.1080/00131725.2014.971990

Burrows, A. C. (2015). Partnerships: A Systemic Study of Two Professional Developments with University Faculty and K-12 Teachers of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Problems of Education in the 21St Century, 65, 28-38.

Colwell, C., MacIsaac, D., Tichenor, M., Heins, B., & Piechura, K. (2014). District and University Perspectives on Sustaining Professional Development Schools: Do the NCATE Standards Matter? Professional Educator, 38(2), 17-26.

Damore, S. J., Kapustka, K. M., & McDevitt, P. (2011). The Urban Professional Development School Network: Assessing the Partnership’s Impact on Initial Teacher Education. Teacher Educator, 46(3), 182-207. doi:10.1080/08878730.2011.582929

Darling-Hammond, L. (2013a). Getting teacher evaluation right: What really matters for effectiveness and improvement. New York: Teachers College.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2013b). Powerful teacher education: Lessons from exemplary programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (Eds.). (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Galassi, J. P., White, K. P., Vesilind, E. M., & Bryan, M. E. (2001). Perceptions of Research from a Second-Year, Multisite Professional Development Schools Partnership. Journal of Educational Research, 95(2), 75.

Hollins, E. R. (Ed.). (2015). Rethinking field experiences in preservice teacher preparation: Meeting new challenges for accountability. New York: Routledge

Ikpeze, C. H., Broikou, K. A., Hildenbrand, S., & Gladstone-Brown, W. (2012). PDS Collaboration as Third Space: An analysis of the quality of learning experiences in a PDS partnership. Studying Teacher Education: Journal of Self-Study Of Teacher Education Practices, 8(3), 275-288. doi:10.1080/17425964.2012.719125

Levine, A. (2006). Educating school teachers. Washington, DC: The Education Schools Project. Middleton, V. A. (2003). A Diversity-Based, Service Learning PDS Partnership. Equity & Excellence in Education, 36(3), 231-237.

Pepper, S. K., Hartman, K. J., Blackwell, S. E., & Monroe, A. E. (2012). Creating an

Environment of Educational Excellence: The University of Mississippi-PDS Partnership--The Evolution Continues. School-University Partnerships, 5(1), 74-88.

Ridley, D. S., Hurwitz, S., Hackett, M. D., & Miller, K. K. (2005). Comparing PDS and Campus-Based Preservice Teacher Preparation: Is PDS-Based Preparation Really Better? Journal of Teacher Education, 56(1), 46-56.

Shroyer, G., Yahnke, S., Bennett, A., & Dunn, C. (2007). Simultaneous Renewal through Professional Development School Partnerships. Journal of Educational Research, 100(4), 211.

Siers, Jr., R., & Gong, T. (2012). Examining the Effect of Mentor Teachers’ Leadership Practices and Interaction on Student Teaching Interns’ Efficacy in Professional Development Schools. School-University Partnerships, 5(2), 63-74.

Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. (2011). Professional development schools: How collaborative are mandated PDSs in the state of Maryland? National Teacher Education Journal, 4(4), 99-108.

Snow-Gerono, J. L. (2009). Voices Less Silenced: What Do Veteran Teachers Value in School-University Partnerships and Initial Teacher Preparation? Teacher Educator, 44(4), 248-267. doi:10.1080/08878730903186348

Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, & Equity (SCALE). (2015). edTPA early childhood assessment handbook. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University.

Stephen Schroth is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Towson University; he can be reached at [email protected]. Ocie Watson-Thompson is a Professor and Chair of the Early Childhood Education Department at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Janese Daniels is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director for the Early Childhood Education Department at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected]. M. Lisa Mason is a Lecturer and Assistant Graduate Program Director, MAT & External Program Coordinator for the Early Childhood Education Department at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Judith Cruzado-Guerro is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for Early Childhood Education at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Lea Ann Christenson is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Towson University; che can be reached at [email protected]. Marisa Dudiak is a Clinical Professor at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected].

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The Rules and Challenges of Classroom Management for Secondary Student InternsSara Bentivenga, Salisbury University Ron Siers, Salisbury University

The main concern of new teachers is classroom management. Emmer and Evertson (2013) posit that well managed and lead classrooms help to foster and effective and efficient environment for positive student outcomes. Classroom management is a topic that receives considerable attention in the research literature due to the impact it has within the complexity of the classroom (Emmer & Evertson,2013). Throughout the internship experience, student interns are provided the opportunity to enforce rules and procedures in the classroom environment. The experience of implementing rules is important in the formative process of developing classroom management skills. It can be revealing to look at the rules being implemented during the internship experience, their influences, and what interns

deem most important and most challenging to implement in order to ascertain insights for future teacher candidates. This knowledge can help further develop and enhance the student internship experience for student interns and P-12 students.

According to Emmer and Evertson (2013), rules explicitly state the expectations for students with regard to their behavior. A rule is a standard for a general expectation within the classroom. Classroom educators and student interns utilize classroom rules to articulate the norms for appropriate behavior. Some educators prefer to call their rules guidelines or policies (Emmer & Evertson, 2013). Researchers have consistently posited that rules should be positively stated and limited to three to six (Bicard, 2000; Boonstrum, 1991; Brophy, 2009; Emmer & Evertson, 2103; Wong & Wong, 2009). Scholars have also found that students are more apt to accept and follow the rules if they are presented in a positive manner and the usefulness for fostering a participatory and learning environment is emphasized when the rules are operationalized for the students (Emmer & Evertson, 2013).

A research study was conducted incorporating quantitative and qualitative analysis to reflect on the classroom management aspect of the internship experience for secondary education student interns at Salisbury University during the spring semester of 2016. All data was collected from a survey completed by secondary student interns at the completion of their first eight-week experience during the internship practicum. Each of the student interns was placed within one of thirty-three Professional Development Schools.

Quantitative analysis described who established the rules within the classroom and who decided what rules were being implemented during the internship experience. As depicted in Figure 1, more than half of student interns were enforcing their mentor teacher’s rules. With this information, one begins to ponder how more can be done to

give student interns experience developing and enforcing their own rules. One beneficial practice for student interns may be to engage in discussion with mentor teachers prior to the beginning of the school year to implement collaborative guidelines. Prior to internship, the SU PDS network holds a Mentor/Intern Forum to prepare the PDS partners for the upcoming experience. Adding time for the partners to discuss the data from this study may help to foster a more robust opportunity for student interns and mentor teachers to collaboratively work toward a common understanding of rule development and implementation.

In the survey, participants were asked to provide the rules they implemented in their

internship experience. A spreadsheet was made organizing rules, the number of participants who implement similar rules that were phrased differently (i.e. “students will be respectful” and “respect” were grouped as similar), the number of participants who ranked rule as most important, the number of participants who ranked the rule as most challenging to implement and the average ranking on a scale of one to five of how challenging the rule was to implement. Then percentages were calculated for the participants implementing similar rules and rules indicated as most challenging or most important. This data is displayed in Figure 2.

It is particularly revealing that rules regarding respect received the highest percentages for implementation and was denoted as most important and most challenging. Speculation may deduce that this is a result of several influences. The first is that student interns are generally young and close to the students’ age; this provides a hurdle in being regarded as an adult - instead of a casual friend. The second is that “respect” tends to be an umbrella term. Narrowing down behaviors that are disrespectful can be challenging and heavily based on individual perspective. Tackling both earning students’ respect as an adult in the classroom and clearly operationalizing what is intended by “respect” may help reduce the challenges interns face during their student teaching. Further exploration and research is needed in this area.

The results of the survey indicate several important points regarding the internship experience in relation to the implementation of

Figure 1

THE EXPERIENCE OF IMPLEMENTING RULES IS IMPORTANT IN THE

FORMATIVE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING CLASSROOM

MANAGEMENT SKILLS.

NARROWING DOWN BEHAVIORS THAT ARE DISRESPECTFUL CAN BE

CHALLENGING AND HEAVILY BASED ON INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE.



guidelines. First, the majority of interns do not have the opportunity to implement their own set of established rules. While this may be challenging due to the nature of interns assimilating into an established classroom, they may be missing critical experience to prepare them for their own classrooms.

Second, 83% of student interns reported implementing rules regarding the concept of respect. It was also reported that this particular rule was the most challenging to implement and reinforce. This is troubling. By operationalizing what is intended by “respect” interns can identify specific behaviors that are “disrespectful” and clarify for students how to demonstrate respect, clearly defining what is intended by the umbrella term “respect”. Then, addressing how to act, so that students

regard interns as adults and not peers, may help reduce the blurred line regarding student behaviors toward interns.

Third, several rules seem to be related and could be able to be incorporated into a generalized rule. For example, self to self could

be included within respect. Rules regarding listening, raising your hand to speak, and safety could arguably be incorporated into a general rule about the classroom as a community. By creating an optimal set of rules, the same guidelines could be implemented on a school or district level establishing a general level of expectation from students in classrooms. These rules could be operationalized by teachers to meet their specific needs. This could also be addressed within the Mentor/Intern Forum so

that all PDS partners benefit from the dialogue and collaboration.

These findings indicate two proactive measures that can be addressed within our PDS network of thirty-three schools. One is finding a way to improve the classroom management aspect of the student internship experience. The conversation need to begin with the Mentor/Intern Forum. This will be added in AY 2016-2017. The second is that these rules can be compressed into an ideal three to six rules, which are then operationalized based on the individual’s personal experience. This aspect will be discussed within our department for dissemination within our courses and throughout our secondary network. Standardizing rules implemented in schools can help in the formation of student morals and provide consistency in the classroom. Overall, by addressing classroom management on a broader scale we can improve the internship experience, better preparing our future educators, reducing the percentage that do not make it past the first five years of teaching, and provide a better experience for students. Our PDS network provides the optimal venue for addressing the results of this brief study in order to positively impact the learning experiences of our student interns and P-12 students.

References

Bicard, D.F. (2000). Using classroom rules to construct behavior. Middle School Journal, 31(5), 37-45.

Boonstrom, R. (1991). The nature and functions of classroom rules. Curriculum Inquiry, 21, 193-216.

Brophy, J.E. (2004). Motivating students to learn (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Emmer, E., & Evertson, C. (2013). Classroom management for middle and high school teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Wong, H., & Wong, R. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publication, Inc.

Sara Bentivenga is a former Student Intern at Salisbury University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Ron Siers is Chair of the Department of Education Specialties and PDS Liaison at Salisbury University; he can be reached at [email protected].

STANDARDIZING RULES IMPLEMENTED IN SCHOOLS CAN HELP IN THE FORMATION OF STUDENT MORALS AND PROVIDE CONSISTENCY IN THE CLASSROOM.

Figure 2: The Rules Being Implemented by Interns

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Editors’ Corner

Ron Siers, Jr., Salisbury University Cathey Ramey, Mardela Middle & High School Sara Elburn, Salisbury University Kim McCormick, Towson University Emily Hoffman, Salisbury University Jenny McFadden, Salisbury University

Our editorial team is excited to bring you the Summer 2016 edition of PDS Partners. Articles submitted and reviewed for this edition come from Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, and Kansas.

Many educators hear phrases such as, “It must be nice to have all summer off,” and know that this it often not the case. We are certain that many of you are spending time this summer involved in working with students or seeking opportunities for professional growth, such as summer school, camps, grants, research or professional development. These experiences can lead to being reenergized or refocused on how you want to approach the next school year. Or, you may be spending time this summer relaxing and becoming rejuvenated in order to have a fresh start on the first day of school. Whatever you find yourself doing this summer, we hope that it will include developing a renewed commitment to your work in PDS.

When we are fully energized and charged, we tend to accomplish more and complete more tasks. Tom Rath (2015) posits that the key to living a fully charged day is to consistently engage in three crucial conditions: (1) Do something each day that is a benefit for someone else. This will provide meaning. Our work in PDS provides unquestionable meaning and value for all of our partners. (2) Establish and create more positive than negative moments with our colleagues. Make our interactions life changing. The PDS movement provides each of us countless opportunities to foster life changing experiences for our partners coupled with the chance to add to the quality of ones’ life. (3) Intentionally make choices that augment our cognitive and physical well-being. This will provide us with more energy. Planning ahead for our well-being

can help to foster events that can make distinct and unique contributions for others. Our editorial staff hopes that each of you this summer finds time to recharge so that you can add a positive boost to your PDS partnerships. We may not see the results of this investment initially, yet the positive interaction will help them to grow and pay it forward for our PDS constituents.

We welcome your thoughts, comments, concerns, and ideas for our magazine and look forward to seeing you at the NAPDS Conference in Washington, D.C. in March of 2017.

References

Rath, T. (2015). Are you fully charged? The 3 keys to energize your work and life. Jackson, TN: Silicon Guild.

Ron is an Associate Professor, Chair and PDS Liaison at Salisbury University (Salisbury, MD); he can be reached at [email protected]. Cathy is a History Teacher at Mardela Middle & High School (Mardela Springs, MD), a veteran Mentor Teacher and Site Coordinator for the Wicomico County PDS partnership; she can be reached at [email protected]. Sara is the Regional Professional Development Schools Coordinator at Salisbury University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Kim is an Assistant Professor at Towson University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Emily is a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Education Specialties at Salisbury University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Jenny is a Doctoral Student at Salisbury University; she can be reached at [email protected].

NAPDS Leadership AssociationPresident: Donnan Stoicovy, State College Area School

District, PAPresident Elect: Doug Rogers, Baylor UniversityPast President: Marcy Keifer-Kennedy, Ohio UniversitySecretary: Drew Polly, University of North Carolina CharlotteCFO: Cindy Stunkard, Kutztown University

Board of Directors: Karen Hassell, Retired, Waco, Texas Rebecca West Burns, University of South Florida Michael Cosenza, California Lutheran University

Committee Chairs:Membership & Elections: Krystal Goree, Baylor

UniversityConferences & Programs: Jean Eagle, Miami University,

OhioAwards: Peggy Lewis, Ball State UniversityPolicy & External Relations: Danielle Dennis, University

of South FloridaCommunications: Nanette Marcum-Dietrich, Millersville

UniversityJournal Editor: Kristien Zenkov, George Mason UniversityMagazine Editor: Ron Siers Jr., Salisbury UniversityStories From the Field Editor: Tom Habowski, Lampeter-

Strasburg School



PDS Partnerships: Making a Priority of the PartnershipRaymond Francis, Central Michigan University Mark Deschaine, Central Michigan University

Many K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs claim that they are a Professional Development School (PDS) as a result of their collaboration. And, for the most part, they are correct. These K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs are collaborating to “improve the quality of teaching and learning” for K-12 students, higher education candidates, and both school and higher education faculty. However, many collaborations follow a relatively loose and informal strategy that essentially means that teacher candidates from the teacher preparation program are placed in the K-12 school for clinical experiences to complete program requirements and practice teaching. However, the true Professional Development School Partnership (PDS-P) can be so much more and contribute to content, concept, and skills learning at all levels. It can also contribute to the professional growth of K-12 students and faculty, teacher candidates, and higher education faculty. We just have to prioritize and reflect.

Strategic planning processes are similar across many fields; including educationStrategic planning is evident in almost all effective systems, and provides a guide for action and activity related to a given field. Strategic planning is the starting place in systems such as metropolitan planning (Wilkinson, Porter, & Colder, 2010) and compliments other processes such public relations (Gregory, 2010), curriculum design (Ainsworth, 2010), research (Breitbart, 2010), social work, technology implementation (Kim et al, 2010), project management (2013), resource planning and allocation (Fields, Quinn, & Blackley, 1992), and nursing (Hamdan, et al., 2014).

Among the key elements in the development of any strategic plan is to prioritize, and re-prioritize, within the process. Many authors indicate the prioritization is an essential first step (Caffarella, 2002) in the process, while other authors indicate prioritization is a softer

part of the process (Margules & Pressey, 2000). Either way, the element of prioritization is important at many stages of the strategic planning process.

In many ways the strategic planning strategies employed in schools mirror the strategic planning strategies in corporate America, and around the world. Items such as planning-to-plan (Wilson, 2001), developing a vision (Bryson, 2011), developing a mission (Steiner, 2010), establishing guiding principles (Cassidy, 2005), completing a needs analysis or environmental scan (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014), and providing for conflict resolution (Goetsch & Davis, 2014) are all common and widely accepted components of the strategic planning process. The various processes are similar in nature with similar process flow and expected outcomes. However, something is missing when it comes to developing partnerships and building Professional Development Schools. What is missing is the fundamental idea of prioritization at the program or organization level prior to entering into the Professional Development School Partnership process.

Building an effective Professional Development School Partnership (a model)As faculty and staff, start the process of developing a Professional Development School Partnership everyone can expect the process to evolve through a number of stages. One common iteration of stages for the process was developed (Wamsley, Bufkin, & Rule, 2009) to describe, in an effective manner, the fundamental process of the development of a sustainable Professional Development School Partnership. The stages identified include:

• Exploration • Formalization• Action• Institutionalization• Critical Growth

In a context review of 15 self-identified PDS Partnerships posted through the Internet, there

was evidence that the reviewed partnerships were in fact at some stage of the process and could be located on the model in an effective manner. What was less apparent about the model and the programs is how the PDS Partnerships moved from one stage to another. This requires an additional overlay of prioritization and reflection.

Moving through the stages of change in a PDS PartnershipMany educational and organizational theorists portray organizational change as a specific set of steps or stages. While some theories and models for change are static, some are fluid and less defined (Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999). Organizational change is viewed as a long-term process with many potential opportunities for both positive and negative outcomes (Burke, 2013). With the variety of formal and informal theories and practices of organizational change, PDS Partnerships must explore and adopt some form of identified process to allow the partners to have a common understanding and effectively communicate with each other.

In most educational settings change is seen as mostly positive undertaking when it is connected to improvement strategies for learning (Fullan, 2007), and when the change is intended to be sustainable in nature (Hargreaves & Goodson, 2006). Change is also seen by faculty and administrators as being most effective when observable (Goetsch & Davis, 2014) and when movement forward is tangible (Senge, 2014).

One widely accepted and effective model change is the Stages of Concern in Organizational Change Model Stages (Hoard, Rutherford, Huling, & Hall, 2014). In this work the authors portray change in organizations as an evolving process over time. Their initial research led to the Seven (7) stages of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (C-BAM). These Seven (7) stages of the C-BAM include:

• Unconcerned• Informational• Personal• Management• Consequence• Collaboration• Refocusing

How then do these partnerships move from stage to stage? Or, restated, what is needed to help these PDS partnerships move forward in the process of improvement of teaching and learning? It seems there are two effective and available strategies to assist in the process. These two strategies include prioritization and reflection.

PrioritizationPrioritization is a strategy to be used as a part of each stage during the PDS partnership

PDS Partners and Partnerships

PDS PARTNERSHIPS MUST EXPLORE AND ADOPT SOME FORM OF IDENTIFIED PROCESS TO ALLOW THE PARTNERS TO HAVE A COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.

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development. Each of the partners must have a set of identified priorities that they bring to the table to establish the best practices and instructional strategies for their program or organization. If the PDS partnership is to be successful and sustainable the actions of the partners must, at some point in the process, meet the needs of each of the partners.

It is not enough for the partnership to be sustainable for the teacher preparation program to seek clinical experiences for teacher candidates without being an effective partner and addressing, in a positive manner, at least some of the priorities of the k-12 school. In order to be a true partner, the teacher preparation program must collaboratively explore the priorities of the k-12 school and be willing to address some (perhaps not all) of the identified priorities such as professional development and collaborative expertise in a meaningful manner. In addition, it is not enough for a sustainable partnership for the k-12 school to simply provide opportunities for clinical experiences for teacher candidates without addressing in a meaningful manner the needs of the teacher preparation program for research opportunities, collaborative teaching opportunities, and other prioritized needs. In order to be effective and sustainable, the PDS partnership must be a “win-win” for both partners and address the pre-identified priorities that each partner brought to the partnership as a part of their genuine interest.

ReflectionThe second strategy to improve and positively impact the PDS partnership process is that of reflective practice. In its basic form reflective practice can be broken down into three (3) stages that include Identification, Exploration, and Resolution (IER) of an idea, event, or topic of interest to the participant (Francis, 1992). Reflective practice can be employed to provide a powerful strategy within the process to ensure the needs of the partners are being met and that prioritized needs for both partners are addressed in an ongoing and effective manner.

The use of the IER, or Reflective Practice, as an ongoing strategy within the PDS partnership process is an essential component to ensure all partners are having their needs met, and that the partnership is sustainable.

Event Identification StageVirtually all authors attempting to provide a conceptual framework for reflection, and the development of situational knowledge, have indicated the need for an initial focus to begin the process (eg. Schon, 1983). This initial focus, for our purposes referred to as the Event Identification Stage, is the stage of the reflective process in which a specific topic or event is identified and refined by the individual or group participating in the process.

Events may include questions or problems, hypothetical or real situations, unclear concepts

or ideas, issues of professional practice, or any other issue of significance to the individual or group (Francis, 1992). In addition many authors (ex. Ferraro, 2000) view the refinement of the problem or event as a key to effective reflective practice. The definition for an event is: a concept, problem, dilemma, question, situation, or pending action that an individual wants to discover a solution, next step, or better understand. The identification of an event or focus is critical if the process of reflection is to promote the development of individual or group situational knowledge (Wildman & Niles, 1987). In addition, the identification of an even provides a common focus for groups (Marimba, Church, & Taylor, 2011) and established effective opportunities for individuals.

Event Exploration StageThe second stage of the reflective process is the Event Exploration Stage. Participants engaged in this stage of the reflective process use the previously identified event as the focal point, and build their understanding of the event through exploration. This stage may include discussion, elaboration, research, framing and reframing of ideas, clarification, analysis and synthesis of existing information, or other activities that help the individual or group to gain a more thorough understanding of the event, the implications, and the actions to be made in the present and the future. In the Event Exploration Stage the participants may seek out and collect information about an event, interview peers or experts on a topic, use graphic organizers, or build their own graphic organizer as a representation of the event and their exploration and understanding of the event.

It is also during the Event Exploration Stage where individuals or groups may define and clarify relationships from the current event being explored to other professional situations where similar information or ideas may be applicable (Ross, 1990). In essence, the Event Exploration Stage is the “making sense of things” stage. “Making sense” (Garman, 1986) in this regard may refer to a wide variety of concepts including what Garman (1986) referred to as “construal development” Similarly Oberg (1989) described

building awareness Schon (1983) referred to framing and reframing of ideas. It is also during this stage that new understandings (Lalik, Niles, & Murphy, 1989) may be developed and previous understandings by be broadened, affirmed, or reaffirmed.

Event Resolution StageThe third stage of the reflective process is the Event Resolution Stage. It is in the Event Resolution Stage of the process that decisions about past, current, and future decisions are made based upon events that have been identified and explored in previous stages. Participants in this stage of the reflective process make use of information collected, refined, and organized in the exploration stage to arrive at

answers and solutions for current and future professional situations. Participants engaged in this stage of the process plan for an action, or resolution, to take place related to their identified event. It is the relationship between the event, time, experience, and expectations that drive the participant to resolve the event (Loughran, 2014). The resolution, or closure in this stage may consist of plans for future action, a statement of belief or practice, a rationale, a demonstration of understanding or a statement of an action to be taken.

The Event Resolution Stage represents the final portion of the definition, and practice, of reflection, which is to increase or confirm the growing body of a professional’s situational knowledge. The resolution stage is intended to provide participants with the tools to make informed decisions, take wise actions, effectively plan for future actions, and broaden understandings of some identified event. In other words, participants gain a “wisdom of practice” (Grimmett, 1989) that provides them with the structure and process to use the reflective process effectively and demonstrate both situational knowledge and wisdom of practice in their professional decision making.

SummaryThe keys to an effective Professional Development School Partnership include the implementation of a process of prioritization in

THE USE OF THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IS AN ESSENTIAL

COMPONENT TO ENSURE ALL PARTNERS ARE HAVING THEIR

NEEDS MET, AND THAT THE PARTNERSHIP IS SUSTAINABLE.



the development, and an ongoing and active engagement in reflective practice. As partners move from individual entities to become partners, it is essential that the partners see one another’s priorities and act on their own reflective practice. The inclusion of an overt practice of prioritization combined with ongoing reflective practice provide the opportunity for the partnership to grow and develop into a positive and sustainable learning environment.

References

Ainsworth, L. (2010). Rigorous curriculum design. Englewood, CO: Leadership and Learning Center.

Armenakis, A. A., & Bedeian, A. G. (1999). Organizational change: A review of theory and research in the 1990s. Journal of management, 25(3), 293-315.

Breitbart, M. M. (2010). Participatory Research Methods 11. Key methods in geography, 141.

Biggers, M., Forbes, C. T., & Zangori, L. (2013). Elementary teachers’ curriculum design and pedagogical reasoning for supporting students’ comparison and evaluation of evidence-based explanations. The Elementary School Journal, 114(1), 48-72.

Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

Burke, W. Warner. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications, 2013.

Caffarella, R. S. (2002). Planning Programs for Adult Learners: A Practical Guide for Educators, Trainers, and Staff Developers. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, Customer Care Center, 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256.

Cassidy, A. (2005). A practical guide to information systems strategic planning. CRC press.

Courtland, M. C., & Leslie, L. (2010). Beliefs and practices of three literacy instructors in elementary teacher education. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 56(1).

Fields, R. K., Quinn, P. R., & Blackley, T. (1992). U.S. Patent No. 5,111,391. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Forbes, C. T., & Davis, E. A. (2010). Curriculum design for inquiry: Preservice elementary teachers’ mobilization and adaptation of

science curriculum materials. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(7), 820-839.

Fullan, M. (2007). Change theory as a force for school improvement (pp. 27-39). Springer Netherlands.

Gregory, A. (2010). Planning and managing public relations campaigns: a strategic approach. Kogan Page Publishers.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Pearson.

Hamdan, A. R., Kwan, C. L., Khan, A., Ghafar, M. N. A., & Sihes, A. J. (2014). Implementation of Problem Based Learning among Nursing Students International Education Studies, 7(7), p136.

Hargreaves, A., & Goodson, I. (2006). Educational change over time? The sustainability and nonsustainability of three decades of secondary school change and continuity. Educational administration quarterly, 42(1), 3-41.

Hord, S. M., Rutherford, W. L., Huling, L., & Hall, G. E. (2006; revised PDF version uploaded on Lulu.com, 2014). Taking charge of change. Austin, TX: SEDL. Available from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/cha22.html

Jacobi, F., Jahn, S., Krawatzeck, R., Dinter, B., & Lorenz, A. (2014). Towards a Design Model for Interdisciplinary Information Systems Curriculum Development, as Exemplified by Big Data Analytics Education.

Kim, W., Han, S. K., Oh, K. J., Kim, T. Y., Ahn, H., & Song, C. (2010). The dual analytic hierarchy process to prioritize emerging technologies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 77(4), 566-577.

Kurland, H., Peretz, H., & Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. (2010). Leadership Style and Organizational Learning: The Mediate Effect of School Vision. Journal Of Educational Administration, 48(1), 7-30. Doi: 10.1108/09578231011015395

May, H., & Supovitz, J. A. (2011). The scope of principal efforts to improve instruction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(2), 332-352. doi: 10.1177/0013161x10383411

Margules, C. R., & Pressey, R. L. (2000). Systematic conservation planning.Nature, 405(6783), 243-253.

Murphy, J., & Torre, D. (2014). Vision Essential scaffolding. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, doi: 10.1177/1741143214523017

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2014). PDS Standards. Taken from http://www.ncate.org/Accreditation/AllAccreditationResources/ProfessionalDevelopmentSchools/tabid/497/Default.aspx

Rice, A. L. (2013). The enterprise and its environment: A system theory of management organization (Vol. 10). Routledge.

Schumm, J. S., Vaughn, S., & Leavell, A. G. (1994). Planning pyramid: A framework for planning for diverse student needs during content area instruction. The reading teacher, 608-615.

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organization. Crown Business.

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Walmsley, A., Bufkin, L., & Rule, A. (2009). Developmental Stages of a Professional Development School: Lessons from a Long-Term Partnership.School-University Partnerships, 3(2), 69-79.

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Raymond Francis is a Professor at Central Michigan University; he can be reached at [email protected]. Mark Deschaine is an Assistant Professor at Central Michigan University; he can be reached at [email protected].

14

What Do The “Kids” Say: How Middle School Students in Two Partnership Schools Evaluated High Quality STEM Trade BooksTim Berber, Jim Carlson, Emily Kalmon, Jenna Rosienski, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Tim Sprain, Mark Davidson, Lincoln and Onalaska Middle School

Concepts are learned best when they are encountered in a variety of contexts and expressed in a variety of ways, for that ensures that there are more opportunities for them to become imbedded in a student’s knowledge system.

Science For All Americans (2013)

Learning to read and write clear and concise informational text are essential skills and therefore essential preparation for an educated life (Alberts, 2010). Because of the necessity of these life skills, the adoption of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Literacy in All Subject Areas (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, 2010) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) heralded a new time in educational reform in the United States. At the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, we have worked collaboratively over the past ten years to refine and expand our PK-12 science, technology, engineering, math, and social studies (STEMSS) materials and trade book collection at the Alice Hagar Curriculum Resource Center (AHCRC; Gerber et al., 2007; Lange et al., 2012; SB&F Editors 2015). We have continued to annually expand these university-based regional science education resources through a series of outreach projects to strengthen university-community ties (Leshner, 2007). Through these projects and collection development, the AHCRC has become a local STEMSS informational hub (Gerber et al. 2007). One of these outreach projects is our Mock Science Books & Film (SB&F) Science Prize election (Gerber & Brunsell, 2008; Gerber et al., 2009). The Mock SB&F Election described in this article reflects a shared commitment to the nine essentials of a PDS, particularly related to “a school-university culture committed to the preparation of future educators that embraces their active engagement in the school community” (NAPDS, 2008).

Mock Science Books & Film (SB&F) Prize ElectionSince 2005, the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Science Books & Films (AAAS/Subaru SB&F) for Excellence in Science Books selects finalists and winners for high quality STEM books in four categories:

1. Children’s Science Picture Books2. Middle Grade Science Books3. Young Adult Science Books4. Hands-On Science/Activity Books

For the 2016 Mock SB&F election, students in 7th grade classrooms within two local school partnerships were invited to read and evaluate all five books in SB&F’s middle grade science books category. Teacher Candidates from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, in coordination with their respective mentor teacher at each site, led the project to its culminating event, the Mock SB&F election (see project timeline, Table 1).

Pedagogical Shifts Demanded by the Common CoreIn recent years, the Common Core State Standards have been adopted by nearly 45 states. The adoption of these standards in English Language Arts/Literacy has required wide-ranging changes at the school/district level as well as in teacher education programs. EngageNY (2013) documented six of the key pedagogical shifts demanded by the Common Core State Standards in ELA Pedagogical shifts demanded by ELA/Literacy (Zwiers, 2014). For the purpose of this project, three of those pedagogical shifts, were at the forefront of the teacher candidate’s learning about the standards, including: (1) the balancing of informational texts with literary texts, (2) the building of student knowledge in the disciplines through text (rather than through their teacher’s knowledge), and (3) the increasing “staircase of complexity” in which students read texts with increasing levels of complexity. These shifts served as guiding posts for doing and reflecting upon this experience.

Teacher Candidates’ ExperiencesAs a result of facilitating the Mock SB&F Election, the two teacher candidates expressed a wide

range of benefits related to the project. For example, Jenna indicated that the experience of lead-teaching a small group of students throughout the project helped her to develop confidence as she prepared for the upcoming student teaching experience. Emily indicated that she developed a more dynamic “teacher voice” as a result of modeling, giving directions, and managing the energies of her students. Also, she noted the

importance of having opportunities to develop relationships with individual students as she consulted with students as they formed opinions about the texts. Jenna indicated that she learned more about her students’ interests as readers of nonfiction/informational texts through this experience. Both teacher candidates also noted that the experience of sequencing the project and identifying key goals related to academic language provided them with experience that was/will be helpful in meeting the demands of the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) which is required for teacher certification in the state of Wisconsin.

In addition to various benefits, several challenges related to the Mock SB&F Election emerged as themes. Both teacher candidates referred to the rubric as a challenge they had to work through. The middle school students used the rubric (accessed from STEMSS website) to assess the informational texts they were reading. The particular demands of the rubric proved to be challenging at times, as some students struggled with academic language used within it. In addition, both teacher candidates documented various challenges related to

Table 1: 2016 Middle Grades Science Mock SB&F election timeline

Month Activity

September Initial meetings about mock election, materials, and expectations

October AAAS/Subaru SB&F 2016 Prize finalists announced, purchasing books, reading, organizing rubric (accessed from STEMSS website)

November Teacher Candidate facilitate the reading and evaluating of books

December Middle Grades Mock Elections late in month

January Official SB&F Prize winners announced

THE PROJECT PROVIDED MIDDLE SCHOOL READERS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO CRITICALLY

READ INFORMATIONAL TEXTS.



motivating some students, particularly the few who identified as non-readers and/or non-scientists. Lastly, the teacher candidates noted various struggles related to issues of time and money. Related to time, the teacher candidates pointed out the challenge of allowing students to enter “the reading zone” (Atwell, 2007) given the approximate 30-minutes of daily enrichment time they were allotted to carry out the project. In terms of money, we received generous funding from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse’s School of Education to purchase two sets of each book for each site. However, in an ideal situation, students would have more access to the titles to be evaluated.

What did the “kids” say?Results of past Mock SB&F Prize Election has suggested that middle grade students do not always vote for the same books as the official SB&F prize judges (Gerber et al., 2007). The results of the 2016 Mock SB&F Science Prize election followed that same pattern (Table 2).

Implications and OutreachRegardless of which book was declared “the winner” – either by the middle school students or the SB&F Selection Committee – the Mock SB&F Election resulted in important developments for a host of stakeholders. First and foremost, the project provided middle school readers with opportunities to critically read informational texts. In observations of the students “working” these texts, it was clear that they were enthusiastic with the material and with their task of evaluating each text. Secondly, this project clearly provided teacher candidates with opportunities to consider how they might build upon this experience of integrating their content area (Science) with literacy to meet the demands of disciplinary literacy required by the Common Core. Both teacher candidates indicated that the experience of carrying out the Mock SB&F Election will have an impact in how they apprentice their future students to read and write like scientists. Finally, as a result of this project and the culminating presentation at the 2016 NAPDS Conference in Washington D.C., relationships between our partnership schools and the university’s School

of Education were forged and solidified, and new ideas for future collaborations have emerged as a result.

References

Alberts, B. (2010). Prioritizing science education. Science 328: 405. Accessed March 22, 2016: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/328/5977/405.full.pdf?sid=f5355f70-5cf7-486c-96b0-43262c7348fd

Atwell, N. (2007). The reading zone: How to help kids become skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. New York: Scholastic.

EnageNY. (2013). Pedagogical shifts demanded by the Common Core State Standards. Accessed March 21, 2016: https://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/common-core-shifts.pdf

Gerber, D., J. Jax, K. Lange, & S. Smith. (2007). Improving PK-12 Curriculum Resource Center Collections Outreach Using SB&F and other AAAS Resources. SB&F May/June issue http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/departments/curriculum/stem/sbf-article.pdf

Gerber, D. & E. Brunsell. (2008). Introducing pre-service teachers to high quality K-8 science trade books through a mock SB&F election. SB&F Sept/Oct issue. http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/departments/curriculum/stem/mockSBFarticle.pdf

Gerber, D., D. Hartman & E. Brunsell. (2009). Mock SB&F prize election: Engaging middle school students with high quality science trade books. SB&F March/April issue. http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/departments/curriculum/stem/sbf-article-2009.pdf

Lange, K., J. Jax, D. Gerber, & S. Smith. (2012). Refinement and Expansion of Regional

Curriculum Resource Center Resources Using SB&F and other AAAS Resources. SB&F May/June issue.

Leshner, A. (2007). Outreach training needed. Science 315: 161.

National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS). Nine essentials of Professional Development School. Accessed March 28, 2016: http://napds.org/nine-essentials/

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. (2010).Common Core State Standards. Washington, D.C.: Council of Chief State School Officers.

NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Resources for Science Literacy Online. Accessed March 22, 2016: http://www.project2061.org/publications/rsl/online/index.htm\

SB&F Editors. (2015). K-12 STEM teacher resource day introduces teachers to exemplary materials. SB&F 51: 118-119.

Science for All Americans Online (SFAA). (2013). Accessed March 22, 2016: http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/Chap13.htm

STEMSS website. Accessed March 22, 2016: http://www.uwlax.edu/MurphyLibrary/Find-information/Curriculum-center/STEMSS/

Zwiers, J. (2014). Building academic language: Meeting Common Core standards across disciplines (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Dr. Tim Gerber ([email protected]) is a professor in the Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and member of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); he can be reached at [email protected]. Dr. Jim Carlson ([email protected]), is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; he can be reached at [email protected]. Emily Kalmon and Jenna Rosienski are teacher candidates at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Tim Sprain (Lincoln Middle School, La Crosse, WI) and 5Mark Davidson (Onalaska Middle School, Onalaska, WI) are veteran middle school science teachers who have years of experience as mentors to teacher candidates.

Table 2: 2015 Middle Grades Science Mock SB&F election results (n=29) held at Lincoln Middle School (LMS) and Onalaska Middle School (OMS). *2016 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize award winning book for the Middle Grades Science Book category.

Title of 2016 SB&F Middle Grade Science Book finalist LMS OMS Total

Migration Nation: Animals on the Go from Coast to Coast 1 10 11

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall 4 3 7

The Octopus Scientists* 4 2 6

Trash Talk: Moving toward a Zero-Waste World 0 3 3

Remaking the John: The invention and Reinvention of the Toilet 0 2 2

16

Science Nights: PDS Partnerships Create Informal Learning OpportunitiesDanielle Dani, Sara Helfrich, Sara Hartman,

Christopher Kennedy, Susan Payne, Heidi Mullins, Ohio University

Lindsey West and Lis Hoisington, Athens City School Districts

The Common Core Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts and associated assessments dominate the national reform rhetoric today. In Ohio, school districts are engaged in (a) developing local curricula that align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), (b) preparing all teachers to use the pedagogical practices espoused by the CCSS, and (c) adopting initiatives to prepare a population of students equipped with the literacy and mathematical skills necessary for citizenry in the 21st century. Principals and administrators feel the pressure to “leave science behind,” believing that teaching science will detract from the focus on mathematics and literacy, often reducing “[science] to a vestigial organ … taught using traditional approaches or, in the worst cases, … excised from the curricular body” (Goldston, 2005, p. 185).

In an attempt to provide P –12 students with a much needed opportunity to engage in science learning, the Ohio University Patton College of Education Early Childhood Education (OHIO-ECE) program and its Professional Development School (PDS) Partners from the Athens City School District (ACSD) hosted three science nights at three of the PDS schools: Morrison Gordon Elementary, the Plains Elementary, and West Elementary. The OHIO-ECE partnership structure and long-standing history of collaboration promotes an environment of close relationships that facilitate innovative ideas like science night. Each OHIO-ECE partnership consists of K–3 students, teacher liaison, teaching fellow, teacher candidates, and OHIO faculty coordinator. During their junior year, OHIO early childhood teacher candidates spend two full days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) teaching and learning in an ACSD K-3 classroom. Teacher candidates are supported and supervised by classroom-based mentor teachers, the school’s teacher liaison, and the university’s faculty coordinator, both in classrooms and through a weekly seminar held at their PDS site. Teacher candidates take coursework (content, pedagogy, and content-specific pedagogy) on the university campus on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Science night is an example of an informal learning opportunity that works synergistically with the formal science curriculum (Rennie, 2007). One of the reasons science nights are so popular is that, as informal learning environments, they have been more successful than formal classrooms in promoting positive

attitudes towards science and a desire to engage in scientific practices including inquiry (Abraham-Silver, 2006). Additionally, parental participation in family science nights is essential for the development of children’s academic success (NSTA, 2009). Bringing science night to the PDS makes the event more accessible to students and their families, providing them with a space to build knowledge and comfort with science content in a hands-on, interdisciplinary, and play-based manner (Bell, Lewenstein, Shouse, & Feder, 2009). In what follows, we describe the factors that contributed to the realization of each science at the OHIO-ECE PDS.

The success of science night hinges on strong collaboration between multiple stakeholders to ensure appropriate planning, hosting, and advertising of the event. At the OHIO-ACSD science nights, teacher candidates, teachers, teacher educators, scientists, engineers, the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), school personnel, community members, and parents and caregivers were involved at various phases of the process. Faculty, teachers, and teacher candidates reached out to OHIO scientists, engineers, and community business sponsors to secure resources to support hosting each science night through monetary, equipment, and refreshment donations. Grant funding from OHIO was obtained to further support each science night. Teacher candidates and the PTO actively advertised the events.

With support from ASCD teachers and OHIO faculty, 47 teacher candidates developed and facilitated standards-based science stations to include a hands-on activity and a poster sharing directions and relevant science content. Science night stations sampled science content from the Ohio Learning Standards earth and space science strand (e.g., cloud jars, rain sticks, and fossils), physical science strand (e.g., soap soufflé, messy mixtures, magnetic slime, lava lamps, and balloon rockets), and the life science strand (e.g., recycling homework, wonderful world of wiggly worms, and crazy composting).

In an effort to extend the science night experience, teacher candidates created take home materials including an event “Passport” describing each station, a science supply bag that allowed children to recreate science experiments at home, and science themed texts to read at home with parents/caregivers. Science themed works of fiction and a nonfiction science trade book selection were provided. Children additionally took home their science night creations and a resource list of local and regional informal science settings available for out of school learning. These included museums, parks, libraries, or virtual sites that offer informal learning experiences.

Planning and hosting the OHIO-ACSD science nights helped teacher candidates develop leadership and management skills in an authentic, real-world manner. Teacher candidates formed planning committees during their PDS seminar and independently engaged in the work of each committee. Committees were tasked with advertising, procuring refreshments and food, securing take home materials, organizing and purchasing station materials, inviting volunteers, creating an evaluation system, fundraising and staying within budget, and arranging the event schedule.

The OHIO-ACSD science nights were immensely successful! Between 56–90 families attended each of the events, including a variety of ages of children in preschool-middle school, their siblings and caregivers. Participants additionally included teachers, administrators, and university faculty from the OHIO-ACSD partnership. Attendees shared overwhelmingly positive feedback about each of the events, describing the science nights as enjoyable and engaging spaces for learning.

In addition to their success in providing children and their families with an engaging and enjoyable opportunity to do and learn science, the OHIO-ACSD science nights contributed to OHIO ECE teacher candidate learning about teaching. Although our teacher education programs at OHIO are practice-based and engage teacher

PRINCIPALS AND ADMINISTRATORS FEEL THE PRESSURE TO “LEAVE

SCIENCE BEHIND,” BELIEVING THAT TEACHING SCIENCE WILL

DETRACT FROM THE FOCUS ON MATHEMATICS AND LITERACY.



candidates in over 1,000 hours of clinical experience, the majority of this experience takes place during the school day. Teacher candidates observe and practice high quality teaching, assessment, classroom management strategies and gain insight into the role of the teacher during the traditional school day. While teacher candidates also have the opportunity to observe teachers engage in outreach to the community, their participation in these types of activities – especially when it comes to planning, organizing, or conducting them – is often limited. As a result of participating in the OHIO-ACSD science nights, teacher candidates were able to engage in such outreach first hand, thus experiencing a part of a teacher’s job that they typically don’t experience during their formal teacher education programs.

In conclusion, a science night provides a win-win symbiotic opportunity for professional development school partnerships. Universities benefit through the involvement of their teacher candidates in authentic, “on the job” types of experiences in a setting that is not typically included in the program curriculum. Schools benefit through the creation of an externally supported after school community outreach event that provides students and families with an informal space for science engagement and learning. Teacher candidates, university faculty, and P –12 teachers benefit through participation in a professional community of practice that promotes collaborative learning, resource sharing, and innovative science instruction.

ReferencesAbraham-Silver, L. (2006). Valuing informal science learning environments. The Science Teacher, January, 12.

Bell, P., Lewenstein, B. V., Shouse, A. W., & Feder, M. A. (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Goldston, D. (2005). Elementary science: Left behind? Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16, 185-187.

NSTA. (2009). NSTA position statement: Parent involvement in science learning. www.nsta.org/about/positions/parents. aspx. Sousa, D.A., and T. Pilecki. 2013. From STEM to STEAM: Using brain-compatible strategies to integrate the arts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Rennie, L. J. (2007). Learning science outside school. In Handbook of research on science education, ed. S. K. Abell, and N. G Lederman. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Danielle Dani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; she can be reached at dani@ohio.

edu. Sara Helfrich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Sara Hartman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Chistopher Kennedy is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; he can be reached at [email protected]. Lindsey West is a Teacher in the Athens City School District; she can be reached at [email protected]. Lis Hoisington is a Teacher in the Athens City School District; she can be reached at [email protected]. Susan Payne is a Faculty Liaison in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Heidi Millins is the Director of Clinical School Experiences in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University; she can be reached at [email protected].

SCIENCE NIGHT IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN INFORMAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITY THAT WORKS SYNERGISTICALLY WITH THE FORMAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM.

18

Teach to Learn: One Example of the Many PDS Partnership ProgramsBenjamin Campbell, University of Georgia

I attended the first NAPDS conference this past March in Washington, D.C. Through participating in multiple sessions and speaking with other attendees, I was most struck by the various ways that school-university partnerships are imagined and implemented throughout the country. My attendance at the conference was somewhat surprising given the fact that, a mere three years ago, I had never even heard of a professional development school. True, I’ve been involved in education for close to ten years, but for the five years that I taught high school in San Antonio, the only interaction I had with universities was when I independently signed up for professional development opportunities, such as A.P. summer institutes.

During my first semester as a graduate student at the University of Georgia, however, I became involved in Teach to Learn, an ongoing partnership program between the university and the surrounding school district. The program was conceived in response to the Georgia legislature’s request for proposals for monies from its Innovation Fund, part of the state’s Race to the Top award. Teach to Learn was proposed as a program to strengthen the local district’s teacher induction program and enhance school leadership capacity in mathematics and science, and in January 2012 the partnership received a two-year grant.

Teach to Learn implemented a unique triad structure involving an early career teacher, a

veteran teacher, and a newly certified preservice teacher pursuing an MAT. Through the program’s support, the MAT student could complete an extensive practicum experience in the veteran teacher’s classroom, which allowed the veteran teacher to coach and provide feedback to both the MAT student and the early career teacher. Multiple triads created a cohort for each type of participant, and cohorts came together in regular professional learning sessions. All participants in the program also received professional development tuned to their specific needs, as well as support to attend state and national conferences in their discipline. Teach to Learn’s mission fell in line with NAPDS Essential Three: Ongoing and reciprocal professional development for all participants guided by need. The program also yielded several valuable lessons about how best to support induction teachers and foster leadership capacity among a district’s veteran teachers.

Although a professional development school district had already been in place, this partnership program brought new players to the table. I came along to serve a research function, documenting the program’s innovative approach, its challenges, and its successes. I was fortunate to serve on a presentation team both at the Georgia Induction Summit and at this year’s inaugural NAPDS conference. I also co-authored a chapter on the Teach to Learn Partnership Program for an edited book entitled Newly Hired Teachers of Science: A Better Beginning (Luft & Dubois, 2015). And lastly, I am very pleased that my work with several early career teachers

who participated in Teach to Learn is serving as a foundation for my dissertation research. These and other research endeavors connected to Teach to Learn correspond to NAPDS Essential Five: Engagement in and public sharing of the results of deliberate investigations of practice by respective participants.

Through my involvement with Teach to Learn, I witnessed multiple dynamic relationships formed and strengthened among teachers (both veterans and those just starting off), prospective teachers, school administrators, university faculty, and, of course, graduate students. Though this is just one program executed by a single school-university partnership, it is representative of the many sorts of partnerships that have come about because of the PDS structure. As this system continues to grow, I’m sure many more educational professionals will become aware of, and benefit from, the opportunities created through school-university partnerships.

Reference

Luft, J. A., & Dubois, S. L. (2015). Newly hired teachers of science: A better beginning. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

Benjamin Campbell is a Graduate Candidate in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Georgia; he can be reached at [email protected].



Miles of Progress: Our Journey into Distance SupervisionDavid Allen & Lori Goodson, Kansas State

UniversityAllison Rothwell, Lincoln and Sheridan

Elementary SchoolsTwyla Sprouse, Amanda Arnold Elementary

School

In 2013, the Curriculum and Instruction Department at Kansas State University’s College of Education was at a crossroad. For 25 years, the department had collaborated with its Professional Development Schools, following national trends in teacher education reform (Holmes Group, 1986; Darling-Hammond, 2006), and was recognized nationally (Holen and Yunk, 2014).

Yet frustrations grew; the department had more students than available area placements, causing quality cooperating teachers to be overused. Additionally, many students desired to complete their internship closer to home as a cost-saving measure. However, while alleviating placement site shortages, providing internship placements a greater distance from the university was creating another issue—supervising faculty spent more time traveling and less time on other academic pursuits.

An added element to those concerns was that the needs of rural communities in the university’s service area were not being met, creating equity issues. Kansas State University serves an expansive area that is primarily rural. While students from large urban areas could return home for internships because they were more centrally located, rural students were not permitted such an option because of the difficulty of supervising them in such a widespread area. Additionally, those same rural school districts—without interns in their buildings—were struggling to fill teaching vacancies, while larger, more urban districts had a stream of interns that served as potential employees to lessen those issues.

The director of field experiences began exploring supervision options through SWIVL, a robotic video and audio recording device, to better serve those rural communities. This led to the development and implementation of distance supervision protocols through contemporary technological tools. Thus, our development was one driven by efficiency—in time, travel, and technology.

Purpose/RationaleThis pedagogical piece offers a review of the journey, including key reasons the university chose to vigorously pursue the distance supervision model. We will provide an overview of our discovery process leading to drastic programmatic changes. By experimenting and revising our approach, we developed and implemented a process that continues to grow. These initial steps have turned into a key element of our program. Through this innovative instructional design, we are reimagining how education programs might function more effectively through distance supervision.

Given national teacher shortages due to retiring teachers, early career teachers leaving the field, and hard-to-fill STEM positions often remaining vacant, especially in rural communities, universities can no longer ignore their stakeholders’ needs. Traditional brick-and-mortar university models are not meeting student and community expectations. Place-bound students with strong ties to rural communities seek alternative licensing options allowing them to remain within their communities, thereby helping preserve small towns’ economic integrity. Like other states, Kansas has significant teacher

shortages, especially in western Kansas, part of the university’s service area. Quality teacher education programs must extend operations to allow inclusion of all stakeholders within their geographic footprint.

Recent technological advances provide opportunities to bridge boundaries of space and time, including improved video recording quality and cost-effective virtual cloud-based storage facilities for collecting and analyzing large data sets. When used with cloud-based meeting applications, these create a formula for redesigning the equation for effective classroom teaching and learning.

Theoretical Orientation/Conceptual FrameworkThe College of Education used Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (2007), defining our conceptual framework. However, this relies heavily on face-to-face contact prior to, during, and after the teaching event, which often was limited by the availability of the student teacher and cooperating teacher. Given the opportunity to engage in realistic inquiry using technology unlimited by time and space, mentor teachers, supervisors, and clinical instructors are able to observe students as the student teachers themselves construct their own understanding of the teaching and learning process.

We examined various approaches, from Rao, et al., (2011), using technology to create virtual classrooms for indigenous people in remote communities to the value of using technology for pre-service teachers’ reflection (Blomberg, Sherin, et al., 2013). Others (Gruenhagen, et al., 1999) explored using technologies to supervise student teachers to address a teacher shortage in a specific field. We are advancing these to

PDS Inquiries and Ideas

WHILE STUDENTS FROM LARGE URBAN AREAS COULD RETURN HOME FOR INTERNSHIPS BECAUSE THEY WERE MORE CENTRALLY LOCATED, RURAL STUDENTS WERE NOT PERMITTED SUCH AN OPTION BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF SUPERVISING SUCH A WIDESPREAD AREA.

TRADITIONAL BRICK-AND-MORTAR UNIVERSITY MODELS ARE NOT MEETING STUDENT AND COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS.

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provide student teachers quality experiences, despite their distance from the university.

Methodological Procedures/Innovative Instructional DesignOur process began with technological experiments. With minimal equipment, we recorded a summer math teacher academy at a local school in 2014. One faculty member attended the academy, while another viewed presentations from her university office via Zoom, a distance cloud-based meeting application. We experimented with, evaluated, and adjusted the process. SWIVL was used in a beginning teacher education course and spread to an elementary school; faculty then supervised a student teacher in a classroom 250 miles away.

We began distance supervision at the elementary level for a limited number of schools, but in Fall 2015, we included secondary placements. We added school sites and instructor-led seminars involving multiple schools simultaneously; we currently provide distance supervision for 23 students, 10 percent of the total student teachers in the field. We have expanded online seminars—some live, others recorded, and have created a “flipped classroom” where the university supervisor in another state supervises students in the university’s area schools.

Today, our partnership involves 14 schools, both elementary and secondary, in 10 districts, across two states. These partnerships have been developed through a common interest in an innovative educational practice and a focus on meeting the needs of schools districts in search of highly qualified induction teachers. Additionally, we have focused upon those aspects of blended learning, such as the flipped classroom approach, which takes advantage of the technology currently available. For example, we have a supervisor who resides in Colorado, supervising and mentoring interns in Kansas.

Findings/Implications for Instructional PracticesAs our efforts have grown and changed, we have chosen to maneuver through missteps and difficulties. This progress and new knowledge have shifted our efforts into four categories for successful distance supervision: framework, feasibility, fidelity, and feedback. Based on our experiences, these four categories create the

basis for our research into providing quality distance supervision, with an understanding that technology is a critical component that weaves through each of the four.

Framework—One of the essential components for a successful distance supervision program is a well-designed framework that supports the various elements to ensure quality outcomes. Such a framework establishes the outline of the program and ensures consistency. It addresses a number of issues including, but not limited to, the structure of the video supervision, and the evaluation tools. It also involves the number of videos to upload and the types of reviews to be conducted; in our program, that includes 10-minute walk-throughs, informal 45-minute observations, and formal 45-minute observations.

Other key details for the framework include determining how students will be introduced to and trained on the necessary technology, both hardware as well as the software applications. The framework also includes a timetable regarding when and what to submit in regard to videos and that all individuals involved are aware of these requirements ahead of time.

For our framework, we have established three weeks for testing and exploring equipment,

13 weeks of recording and uploading video for observation and reflection, seminar video sessions for student interns, as well as follow-up cloud-based conference reflection meetings.

Feasibility—Another essential element of this project is assuring all parties involved—the university, the hosting school, cooperating teachers, university supervisors, and the student intern—that successful completion of the internship is manageable. This component describes necessary criteria for a distance placement. While often it may be easy to find a specific school in which to conduct a student teaching placement, that does not always ensure the student intern will be successful in that placement. Feasibility components for specific placements include requirements for the mentor teacher/cooperating teacher, demographics of the school’s student population, and administrative support. Feasibility also includes determining a school’s prior experiences with Common Core and other developments,

University Supervisor Responsibilities:• Distance observations (recorded and

live)• Observation feedback (recorded and

uploaded or live through Zoom)• Professional progress forms, used for

midterm and final evaluations• Evidence Feedback Forms, including

formal evaluation (Danielson, 2007)• Walk-through form for informal

feedback with a section for suggestions• Mid-term evaluation form with goal-

setting section.• Final evaluation form• Communication including weekly

email and Zoom conferencing, possible regular office hours through Zoom and email, unscheduled and scheduled classroom visits by the university supervisor, and initial communication with the cooperating teacher and student teacher through a Zoom session.

Cooperating Teacher Responsibilities:• Orientation, through a cooperating

teacher website featuring information on co-teaching, frequently asked questions, models of scenarios, and videos; setting lesson plan expectations, locating documents.

• Reviewing lesson plan (collaboratively)• Grading the final portfolio (including

setting a timeline with a final deadline, and extra support for students as needed.

• Completing a professional progress form online.

Student Teacher Responsibilities:• Canvas, including portfolio, seminars,

observation documents (such as guiding questions, lesson plans, and reflections).

• Providing the required minimum of uploaded classroom teaching videos for observation.

QUALITY TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS MUST EXTEND

OPERATIONS TO ALLOW INCLUSION OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN

THEIR GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT.



to determine if the school utilizes curricula supporting current trends in educational reform similarly to the university regarding student preparation. Also, does the school understand and agree with co-teaching as a model for mentoring novice teachers, which is promoted by the College of Education?

Technology also plays a key role in feasibility. Does the school have the necessary technology infrastructure that supports l ive video observation, ZOOM conferencing meetings, and other approaches that are used through the program. The school’s wireless capabilities also must support bandwidth uploads sufficient to handle the video while eliminating hours of video processing.

Fidelity—By definition, fidelity is a “strict observance of promises, duties, etc.; loyalty; adherence to fact or detail.” Such faithfulness should be applied to distance supervision—to help define the end product—the teaching ability of our graduates. Likewise, fidelity helps link together the previously addressed framework and feasibility concepts of a placement.

For a successful distance supervision program, university personnel and partner school representatives should not settle for the easiest placement available, but rather ensure that, as we establish the framework and expectations for what a school partner is and what framework will be utilized, we are faithful to that setting. Fidelity also applies to the various elements of the process—students uploading videos, supervisors providing feedback, and then students responding and reflecting upon their practice. Likewise, the university’s program must provide fidelity to the professional development of cooperating teachers so they are adequately prepared to supervise. This allows the university a consistency of expectations for supervision, whether those observations be from university-based supervisors or cooperating teachers.

And, finally, we must provide fidelity to the technology incorporated, including the SWIVL Cloud model we implemented for the distance supervision program. This helps provide consistency to the program—and to the materials generated and shared.

Feedback—The fourth and final category of an effective distance supervision program is feedback, which should be ongoing for all stakeholders—supervisors, administrators, cooperating teachers and student interns. This should be conducted multiple times throughout the internship; the distance supervision administrator

should collect feedback from all levels and keep detailed notes to be reviewed at the end of each semester to fine tune the program. All feedback should be analyzed by multiple individuals to identify overall strengths and weaknesses of the program.

As information is collected and analyzed, changes can be identified and implemented; however, it is important to implement those only at the end of a student teaching cycle—to provide the least disruption for current interns. For example, if minor changes are needed in the undergraduate program, those can be implemented during winter intercession. Major changes, however, should be thoroughly vetted and discussed with supervisors during intercession or summer months.

Feedback should be in a variety of forms—surveys and anecdotal videos or ZOOM based-video conferencing sessions. Administrative feedback should be sought at the end of each semester, to collect longitudinal data regarding the overall effectiveness of the distance supervision model—and help maintain positive relationships with the partnership’s administrators.

Final ThoughtsThrough these efforts, Kansas State University and its partners across Kansas are working to create a comprehensive approach to supervision which reaches beyond the brick and mortar boundaries of the university proper, and extend the learning into partnership schools which have previously been out of reach. This affords our students and teachers the chance to work with greater diversity demographics in an environment which captures the essence of trued blended learning. Knowing that our school-based partners are equally essential to meeting the demands of high quality teacher production, our efforts take advantage of the numerous skill sets afforded by those communities.

We believe our journey is proving valuable; we now are situated to reflect upon the 20/20 vision of our experiences to enhance the project design. We defined our practices through experimentation and revision. Besides our field experience office now promoting opportunities for diverse student teaching locations at greater distances, we are developing a model including specific supervision protocol focusing on responsibilities of university supervisors, cooperating teachers, and student interns. We offer increased opportunities for our students, school districts throughout our service area, and, most importantly, K-12 students in Kansas classrooms.

References

Blomberg, G., Sherin, M., Renkl, A., Glogger, I., & Seidel, T. (2014) Understanding video as a tool for teacher education: Investigating instructional strategies to promote reflection. Instructional Science, 42(3), 443-463.

Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful teacher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Gruenhagen, K., McCracken, T., & True, J. (1999). Using Distance Education Technologies for the Supervision of Student Teachers in Remote Rural. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 18(3/4), 58.

Holen, M.C. and Yunk, D.C. (2014). “Benefits of 25 Years of School District-University Partnerships to Improve Teacher Preparation and Advance School Renewal.” Educational Considerations, 42(1), 49-54.

The Holmes Group. (1986). Tomorrow’s teachers: A report of The Holmes Group. East Lansing, MI: Author.

Rao, Kavita Eady, Michelle Edelen-Smith, Patricia Kavita Rao, Michelle Eady, and Patricia Edelen-Smith, (2011). “Creating Virtual Classrooms for Rural and Remote Communities.” Phi Delta Kappan 92(6), 22-7 Mar. 2011.

David Allen is an Associate Professor and Director of Field Experiences at Kansas State University; he can be reached at [email protected]. Lori Goodson is an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University; she can be reached at [email protected]. Allison Rothwell is a Clinical Instructor and Teacher at Lincoln & Sheridan Elementary Schools; she can be reached at [email protected]. Twyla Sprouse is a Principal and Clinical Instructor at Amanda Arnold Elementary School; she can be reached at [email protected].

FOUR CATEGORIES FOR SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE SUPERVISION: FRAMEWORK, FEASIBILITY, FIDELITY, AND FEEDBACK.

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School-University Partnerships SubmissionsKristien Zenkov, Senior Editor, George Mason University

School-University Partnerships is committed to advocating for collaborative ventures across the PreK-12 and college and university communities as vehicles for the discovery and sharing of knowledge that shapes educational best practices. Honoring the voices of both school-based and university-based educators is central to the mission of the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS), and School-University Partnerships seeks manuscripts that represent partnerships across stakeholders. The journal strongly encourages submissions that reflect collaborative partnership initiatives. Submissions may focus on (but are not limited to) original school-university research designed and implemented collaboratively, descriptions of effective pedagogies and content delivery in PDS contexts, explanations of successful partnership models and structures, examples of measures of assessment and results of evaluative processes, and analyses of the professional development of all constituents involved with school-university partnerships.

Complete Submission Guidelines can be found at www.napds.org.

Submissions and any inquiries regarding past submissions can be made to: [email protected]

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P6 - Signalisation2000...her name across the front cover in sparkly purple pen. Yet, students had been asked not to write in the books. Megan sighed, making a mental note to be more