| 2004
Report on the
Professional Development School Partnership
Current Structures
and Programs
A
Brief and Recent History:
For
over 14 years, Teachers College has been a partner in
the Professional Development School Partnership. This
collaboration involves Teachers College, Region 10 (formally
Community School District 3) in Manhattan, and the UFT.
One
major purpose of the partnership has always been to
reinvent the traditional school-university relationship
in order to enhance the professional development of
future teachers, experienced teachers and college faculty
working in urban schools. Several teacher education
programs at TC participate in this collaborative effort.
While
there are formally five PDS sites listed in our Charter,
three schools demonstrate active commitment in the partnership:
PS 165, PS 87 and Beacon High School.
Our
Professional Development School Partnership is defined
by an orientation to the nature of the collaboration
between schools and universities -- valuing and acknowledging
the unique talents, strengths, questions, and concerns
that individuals and/or parties bring to the process.
As
programs at Teachers College are actively preparing
for NCATE accreditation especially across particular
preservice programs, we hope that the work of our PDS
can serve as a model for promising practices and positive
collaborations in our work as teacher educators-both
at the school sites and at Teachers College. What follows
are examples of our ongoing work in these efforts.
Linking
Goals to Current Practice
We
believe our PDS should foster learning-centered communities
that support children and adult learning. At our sites
there is active engagement with inquiry practices:
- At
both PS 165 and 87 teachers have participated in topic
based study groups for the past several years to discuss
and interrogate current practices. When schools were
required to submit formal professional development
plans aligned with Department of Education Standards
and requirements, the schools successfully advocated
for the continued use of this PDS structure to fulfill
the Department of Education reform initiatives. At
the most recent retreat (1/31/04) Howard Matza, the
Principal at 165 outlined ways in which he plans to
vigorously support these PDS efforts both through
financial and systemic sources. He and Steve Stoll,
Principal at Beacon promised to support other principals
in aligning their Comprehensive Education Plans with
the ongoing work of PDS.
- Preservice
students, both at the elementary and secondary level
engage in inquiry activities intended to support their
development as reflective practitioners. Working along
side cooperating teachers who model these practices
provides mentorship in their process of learning to
teach. Elementary preservice students attend weekly
seminars and other onsite sessions where they are
encouraged to question and examine their own teaching
practices. At Beacon, secondary interns craft a collaborative
action research project that is designed to meet some
identified need at the school. Each year they present
their findings to the faculty and at other conferences
and their findings inform changes and improvements
in the school structure.
We
are committed to building a common culture and shared
respect between schools and universities. Clear advantages
of such a synthesis include a common language across
issues of teaching and learning, and value for the diverse
kinds of understandings and perspectives different people
bring to the Partnership:
- At
each of our active PDS sites, Teachers College Faculty
and doctoral students are engaged in collaborative
research projects. Ongoing collaborations at both
the elementary and secondary levels focus on questions
of student achievement and exemplary practices. Although
these collaborations typically happen on a small scale
and involve partnerships between individuals and small
groups, there overarching impact is felt across the
schools and through presentations at local national
conferences and educational publications, the content
of these collaborations is disseminated much more
broadly.
-
There are various ways that PDS school-based personnel
bring their expertise to the larger Teachers College
community. In the Elementary Preservice Program, Clinical
Faculty from two PDS sites are instrumental in program
decisions, teach alongside TC faculty in preservice
courses, and continually give voice to the inservice
teacher perspective in teacher development. At the
secondary level, several departments provide opportunities
for teachers to act as adjunct professors in methods
courses.
Another
goal of PDS is to look for productive and thoughtful
ways to reach beyond the borders of our partner sites
and influence the educational community. Through participation
in professional organizations, including teacher unions,
discipline based communities of practice and local political
initiatives, PDS is positioned as an important voice
in the New York City community:
- Our
Partnership is pro-actively building a common culture
and a sense of shared respect with the local community
to include the voices, concerns, and strengths of
families and neighborhood leaders. At the recent Holmes
Conference, a presentation highlighted parental involvement
in our PDS. As the only parents attending the conference,
we were pleased to have two parent leaders speak of
the roles they play in school leadership capacities
and ways in which PDS supports their presence. Teachers
shared their efforts in promoting more parental involvement
in the classroom and in their children’s academic
progress. Through a series of on-site parent workshops,
teachers have provided strategies and suggestions
for parental participation.
-
A powerful outcome of the PDS connections between
preservice and inservice teacher development has been
in the recruitment of Teachers College graduates for
these sites and other urban public schools. Their
placement in the PDS schools and the mentoring that
the student teachers receive fosters a cycle of teacher
renewal in the cooperating teachers and a successful
initiation into the professional community. Each year
dozens of preservice graduates are hired and sustained
in our PDS schools. Principals often seek out these
candidates as future teacher-leaders in their schools.
The
history of the PDS has been one of expansion and contraction.
Despite these rhythms in the work among PDS partners,
our goal has been-is-and continues to be to bring partners
together in the rich and complex work of providing the
best possible education for students both young and
adult. We understand that in order for our work to be
valued, we must be both self-reflective and accountable
to the members of the Partnership Community. Our retreat
on January 31st, attended by 24 dedicated members of
our PDSP, has served to invigorate the future commitments
all partners have articulated their willingness to make.
The following pages outline our plan for leadership.
.
Leadership
A
Brief and Recent History:
The
Professional Development School Partnership at Teachers
College has, for the last several years, operated in
the absence of consistent and predictable leadership.
Following the departure of Naomi Hill, the Partnership
was organized and administered by Professor Michele
Genor, a caretaker Director who put a great deal of
effort and energy into keeping PDS at TC viable and
operating coherently.
During
this interim stewardship, the Executive Board of PDS
sought to fill the Directorship with a full-time candidate,
and spent several months searching for and interviewing
potential candidates. One such candidate, Jim Lerman,
was ultimately hired as a full-time Director, and his
term began in the summer/fall of 2002.
Jim
Lerman remained the Director of PDS at TC for one year.
In the summer of 2003, the Executive Board decided to
discontinue Mr. Lerman’s term as Director of the
PDS at TC. Once again, a leadership vacuum was created,
and once again, Professor Michele Genor stepped in as
a caretaker Director. In October of 2003, the Executive
Board voted unanimously to appoint Verneda Johnson and
Rene Schillinger as Co-Interim Directors of PDS at TC
for a four-month term beginning October 15th, 2003,
and ending February 15th, 2004. With mid-February rapidly
approaching, a new leadership vacuum is set to again
arise within the PDS Partnership.
PDS
Goals for Securing Full-Time Leadership:
The
charge of the PDS Partnership this spring will be to
search for, interview and hire a full-time director
to take the partnership into it future. The partnership
has learned many valuable lessons from our past.
To
begin with, it is clear to the Partnership that the
Director must have a clear person to whom s/he reports
regularly. In other words, the PDS Director must be
held accountable consistently through a reporting protocol
that is clearly defined and regularly executed. While
members of the Executive Board provide leadership in
any number of ways there needs to be a more traceable
chain of accountability.
Recommendations
for Accountability
It
is recommended that the new Director of the PDS at TC
report directly to the Dean and Vice President for Academic
Affairs (or to a person designated by the same). This
reporting responsibility should include a minimum of
four (4) meetings throughout the course of the academic
year, and four (4) written reports during the inter-sessions
between meetings.
During
the last search for a director, the PDS at TC decided
to engage in a national search, with commensurate costs.
There is no evidence that the decision to conduct a
national search increased the level and credentials
of candidates dramatically.
It
is recommended that the next search for a director be
a more local search, with emphasis placed on “home-grown”
talent and persons familiar to the PDSP who might be
asked to interview for the position. Then PDSP does
not want to exclude any potential candidate, and continue
to have a deep commitment to diversity and opportunity.
Nevertheless, the PDSP has retired several members in
the last few years, and the initial focus of a new search
could easily begin by approaching those who have familiarity
with the PDS at TC and who have the time and energy
to dedicate to building the program meaningfully.
In
general terms, communication between and among the PDS
leadership and members, and the TC Executive Administration
needs to be improved. The PDSP is enormously grateful
for the ongoing financial support that the college has
provided to the Partnership. Several recent initiatives
that the Partnership has undertaken have included exploring
grant funding opportunities in order to secure independent
funding for PDSP activities, and reestablishing contact
with Region 10 in order to revive the support formerly
provided to the PDSP by District 3 on the West Side.
It
is recommended that the PDS at TC more vigorously publicize
both Executive Board and Greater Council meetings, as
well as invite broader constituencies to each. It should
be the responsibility of the PDS at TC to invite TC
faculty, students, and administrators to meetings of
the Partnership, in order to increase the overall awareness
of PDS among stakeholders at the college.
As
NCATE accreditation rapidly approaches, the PDSP has
the opportunity to serve as a valuable representative
for the relationship TC has with the public schools
in New York City. Additionally, the PDSP can and does
represent the dedication that TC has to the professional
education of teachers.
It
is recommended that the PDSP, throughout the spring
and summer, work more closely with teacher education
faculty and with NCATE point-persons (such as John Saxman)
to better articulate the relationship between the Professional
Development Schools and the overall teacher education
stances that TC has developed and articulated in advance
of our NCATE accreditation review.
One
serious impediment to coherent leadership in the PDS
at TC has been the lack of office space and commensurate
office hardware (phone, fax, email, etc.). The PDS was,
for a time, located in the NCREST office suite, but
was moved out of that location early in the Fall ’03
semester. The office furniture and items were boxed
up, and have been temporarily stored in a number of
short-term locations. In order to operate at all, the
PDSP was relocated into the Office of Field Support
Services, despite those offices being already full to
capacity. This situation has been difficult at best,
and has contributed to the challenges inherent in keeping
PDS organized and coherent.
It
is recommended that the PDSP be granted permanent office
space capable of accommodating a full-time Director
and relevant support staff. This office can then serve
as an organizing force to bring increased organization
to the PDS endeavor on campus and beyond. PDS leadership
will be dramatically and positively impacted by the
availability of such permanent office space. Specifically,
a central location at the college lends both visibility
and credibility to the sustained work of the PDSP.
As we move into our 15th year, we are encouraged by
our past efforts and currentinitiatives. Our goal is
for the PDS to continue to be the creative space where
teachersand teacher educators come together to improve
the lives of children. We are therefore grateful for
both the financial and intellectual support that Teachers
College provides.
Verneda Johnson
Co-Interim Director, PDSP at TC
Rene Schillinger
Co-Interim Director, PDSP at TC
Michèle Genor
Faculty Liaison, PDSP at TC
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