Investigating University-School Partnerships

Edited by:
Janice L. Nath, University of Houston
Irma N. Guadarrama, University of Texas - Pan Am
John Ramsey, University of Houston

Published 2011

Investigating University-School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, the fourth book in the PDS Research Series developed by the same editors, includes a collection of organized papers that represent the best and latest examples of practitioner thinking, research, and program design and evaluation in the field at the national level. A wide variety of authors from the professional community of PDS researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders engage the reader in research or case studies that foreground real-life, authentic contexts, which, in turn, are designed to generate and fashion more questions and ideas. The volume’s contents of 26 chapters is divided into five areas: (1) PDS Evaluation (2) Teacher Research and Inquiry, (3) PDS Stakeholders’ Studies, (4) Studies for Thought – Ideas for Development, and (5) Teaching Content Areas in PDSs. As a whole, the volume of papers maintains a consistency within a cohesive undercurrent that illustrates the spirited and visionary purpose of professional development schools to advance educational reform that leads to substantive change.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments. Introduction. PART I: PDS EVALUATION. Assessing University Partnership Impact on School Climate and Culture, Carole G. Basile. “Better Schools—Better Teachers”: An Analysis of a Professional Development School’s Internship Program Using the National Association of Professional Development School’s Nine Essentials, Joan N. Maier and Wren M. Bump. A National Survey of Professional Development Schools, D. John McIntyre and Paula Echeverri Sucerquia. A Programmatic Review of a Professional Development School Relationship: 14 Years Later, Neill Armstrong, Amanda Rudolph, and Ken Austin. Preservice Special Educators: Graduate Census Results Support PDS Preparation, Elisabeth H. Rice, Karen H. Ihrig, Esther S. Merves, and Margaux H. Brown. Preservice Teacher Learning in a Professional Development School: Recognizing and Accepting the Complexity of Urban Teaching, Andrea J. Stairs. School-University Partnerships: Bridging the Gap in Preservice Teacher Assessment, Lina Leatherwood Owens, Ron Towery, and Dianne Lawler. PART II: TEACHER RESEARCH AND INQUIRY. Teacher Research in the PDS: How Do We Define the Quality of This Research? Nancy Fichtman Dana, Jason Smith, and Diane Yendol-Hoppey. PDS and University Faculty Collaborative Classroom- Based Teacher Research, Ronald S. Beebe and Diane G. Corrigan. Reaping the Benefits: The Positive Effects of a Successful PDS Partnership on Inservice and Preservice Teachers, Amy W. Thornburg and Suzanne Horn. Using Student Assessment Data in a PDS to Inform Classroom Practice and Increase Achievement, Alexandria Lawrence Ross, Cathy Bernard, and Damaris Ramirez-Bello. Learning for All: Inquiry Into Transfer Theory at a PDS, Lourdes Z. Mitchel, Alisa Hindin, and Lori Moonan. PART III: PDS STAKEHOLDERS’ STUDIES. Learning From Public Schools: Recommendations From 10 Years as a University Liaison, Neal Shambaugh. Negotiating Complex Relationships in School-University Partnerships: Befuddled, Bewildered, and Even Bemused, Cheryl A. Franklin Torrez, Jennifer L. Snow, and Susan D. Martin. Searching for a Better Way: A New Professor’s Reflections of a First Year in an Established PDS Program, Chris Witchonke. Characterizing the Principal’s Role: New Insights and Perspectives in PDS Leadership, Keith Tilford and Diane Yendol-Hoppey. A High School PDS Becomes a Whole School Experience, Missy M. Bennett. Affirmation and Change: Assessing the Impact of the Professional Development School on Mentors’ Classroom Practice, Bernard Badiali, James Nolan, Carla Zembal-Saul, and Jacqueline Manno. From Good to Great—What New Teachers Need: Supportive Mentors and School-Based Teams in PDS, Dorothy Stafford and Ted Price. PART IV: STUDIES FOR THOUGHT—IDEAS FOR DEVELOPMENT. Helping Preservice Teachers Support the Needs of the Whole Child in a PDS, JoAnne Ferrara and Eileen Santiago. Improved Learning for All Partners: A School/University Partnership for Teacher Preparation, Teacher Development, and Student Achievement, Christine Sherretz and Diane W. Kyle. Creating a PDS Through Staff Development: A Profitable Way to Begin a Relationship, Suzanne Horn, Amy Wooten Thornburg, Patrice Petroff, Christopher Law, Mark Birkholz, and Paul Bonner. Building Capacity for a Merged General and Special Education Teacher Preparation Program in Professional Development Schools: One Partnership’s Journey Toward More Inclusive Practice, Cindy Gutierrez and Donna Sobel. Changing the PDS Routine: A Philosophy Altering Experience, Emily Graves and Matt Seimears. PART V: TEACHING IN CONTENT AREAS IN PDSS. Dialogue Journal Writing Between Preservice Teachers and Elementary Students in a PDS, Cecile M. Arquette, Erin Nichols, and Jamie Taylor. Social Studies Disappearing Act: Can the PDS Model Help Stem the Tide? Chris Witschonke and Janice L. Nath. About the Contributors.