Edited by Richard E. Ishler, Ed.D, Distinguished Dean and Professor Emeritus, College of Education, University of South Carolina. With a Forward by Arthur E. Wise, President, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
Designed for use by:
- Professional Development School (PDS) planners
- Teacher educators in universities and PreK-12 schools
- Teachers and administrators in PDSs
- School board members
- Policymakers
Effective applications:
- Textbook and/or resource book for college classes in teacher education
- Resource book for universities and PreK-12 schools considering PDS partnerships
- Guide for institutions preparing for NCATE accreditation visits
- Resource for policymakers at local and state levels
Most educators now agree that we will not have better schools until we have better prepared teachers and administrators. The PDS model is fast becoming the vehicle for simultaneous renewal of PreK-12 schools and teacher education. The time is right for the transformation of schools and teacher education institutions. It just makes good sense for PreK-12 schools and universities to cooperate because the educational cycle from elementary school to college should be an unbroken circle, not separate parts.
PDSs are designed to provide new models of teacher education by serving as exemplars of practice and places where professional understandings among teacher educators, veteran teachers, and educators in training can be communicated. These schools are intended to be the analog to teaching hospitals for the medical profession, where practitioners, researchers, and clinical faculty work together to expand the knowledge base of medicine, improve medical services to patients, and prepare future practitioners.
The authors, who have extensive experience with PDSs, prepared this book with support from the Pennsylvania Academy for the Profession of Teaching and Learning, which is an agency of the State System of Higher Education. The authors include PreK-12 teachers and administrators, as well as higher education faculty. The purpose is to share the authors' extensive PDS experiences with educators across the nation in order to facilitate the development of PDS partnerships and ultimately to improve PreK-12 schools and the preparation of future teachers and other school personnel.
The book is organized around the NCATE Standards for Professional Development Schools. Chapters focus on PDS background; establishing learning communities; maintaining accountability and quality assurance; fostering collaboration; embracing diversity and equity; creating structures, resources, and roles; conclusions; and recommendations.
Professional Development Schools are rapidly becoming a major clinical component of teacher preparation programs across the United States. They are one way to create a "seamless" PreK-16 education system in this country. PDSs have been successfully employed as a major vehicle to improve teacher quality, and this book will be helpful to those who are exploring this approach to school improvement.