The Professional Development School Model: Strategies to Promote Equity and Success in High Needs Schools

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

Ellen V. Whitord, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Amanda Wall, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Kathleen Crawford, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Georgia Southern University

Second Presenter's Institution

Georgia Southern University

Third Presenter's Institution

Georgia Southern University

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Session 6 Breakouts

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Relevance

The presentation will address the specific goals and strategies employed in a Professional Development School (PDS) characterized as a high needs school that serves students at -risk. The PDS is designed to prepare teachers to understand and develop skills to meet the unique needs of students at-risk. Professional development for the teachers is directly focused the multiple needs of youth at risk. Shared research projects aim to assess the effectiveness of strategies to help students overcome barriers to success. Through shared leadership and expertise, the PDS can optimize resources to address all five areas of need for youth at risk Head, Heart, Hands, Health, and Home.

Brief Program Description

This session will describe how a Professional Development School (PDS) model can effectively support teacher preparation, teacher professional development, and research to meet the needs of at-risk students. Strategies for establishment, implementation, and sustainability of PDS partnerships will be discussed. Examples will include both urban and rural schools.

Summary

This presentation will provide a model for the establishment of a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between a College of Education and a P-12 school to meet the needs of students at-risk. The essential elements of the Professional Development School (PDS) will be identified as 1) a year-long preparation of teacher candidates 2) a focus on professional development for teachers, 3) a shared research focus, and 4) an emphasis on meeting the needs of students.

The development of an authentic PDS in a high needs school requires a shared commitment to addressing each element of the partnership. Within that context, it is possible to give teacher candidates the experiences and skills they will need to teach at-risk students. It is also possible to develop professional development and research that will focus on the unique needs of the teachers and students in high needs schools.

Unique aspects of this model include the development of long-term sustainable partnerships that develop through shared leadership and shared understandings of the ever-changing needs of schools, teachers, and students. Because the PDS can draw upon multiple sources of expertise within the college, university, school district, and community, it provides a structure to meet the needs of at-risk students including all 5 H’s of Head, Heart, Hands, Health, and Home. This model can be replicated and tailored to meet unique and specific needs. For example, presenters will explain how the model has been applied in both high poverty urban and rural schools.

The session will be designed as an interactive discussion to engage participants in a dialogue that will address the formation of the PDS, assessment of effectiveness, and strategies to sustain the partnership.

Evidence

A Professional Development School PDS) is a K-12 School/College of Education Partnership designed to: improve teacher preparation, enhance professional development for teachers, engage in a shared research focus, and to improve student achievement. (NCATE Standards, http://www.ncate.org/~/media/Files/caep/accreditation-resources/ncate-standards-2008.pdf?la=en)

The National Association for Professional Development Schools identifies Essential Elements of a PDS, including:

1. A comprehensive mission that is broader in its outreach and scope than the mission of any partner and that furthers the education profession and its responsibility to advance equity within schools and, by potential extension, the broader community,
2. A school–university culture committed to the preparation of future educators that embraces their active engagement in the school community,
3. Ongoing and reciprocal professional development for all participants guided by need,
4. A shared commitment to innovative and reflective practice by all participants,
5. Engagement in and public sharing of the results of deliberate investigations of practice by respective participants.( https://napds.org/nine-essentials/)

In establishing a PDS partnership, a memorandum of understanding and implementation plan are developed collaboratively. This process enables the university and the school to establish a focus on the critical needs of at-risk students in failing schools. Once implemented, the professional development and research that characterize the PDS have a unique opportunity to address the needs of the school and the preparation of the teacher candidates who may teach in that school. This provides a forum and opportunity for the PDS to make a difference in a failing school, to prepare teachers for success in working with high needs student populations, and to provide professional development and research to support addressing the needs of at-risk learners.

A study of the Temple University PDS in partnership of the School District of Philadelphia reflected on the ongoing work to improve student achievement in the low achieving schools in the City of Philadelphia. They concluded that the PDS model offers promise to improve achievement of student populations characterized by racial and socio-economic diversity. Similar research on the PDS partnerships at Baylor University, University of Utah. and Auburn University reported positive outcomes for PDS models in failing schools. (Leonard, J., Lovelace-Taylor, K, Sanford-Deshields, and Spearman, P. (2014). Professional Development Schools Revisited: Reform, Authentic Partnerships, and New Visions. Urban Education. (39 No. 5, September 2004 561-583D DOI: 10.1177/0042085904266968

More recently, a special issue of School-University Partnerships, focused on the importance of research in the PDS as a vehicle to advance equity and social justice. The authors emphasized the importance of preparing teacher candidates in high-risk schools, working with at-risk students with the recognition that that these will be the teachers whose careers will be spent working with these students to advance equity in high-risk schools. (Jeffries, R,. Nelson, S, and Fremont, John C. 2020. Enacting Equity through Action Research in Professional Development Schools.)

Learning Objectives

Participants will understand the multiple facets of the Professional Development School (PDS) as a partnership that can support at-risk students in high needs schools.

Participants will consider strategies that have been utilized effectively in PDS partnerships to help turn around failing schools and support at-risk students.

Participants will discuss ways to replicate the PDS model without significant cost

Participants will engage in an interactive discussion about implementation and sustainability of PDS partnerships in schools with youth at risk.

Biographical Sketch

Ellen V. Whitford, Ed.D., is a Professor of Education Leadership at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Whitford earned her degree in Educational Administration, Theory and Policy from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. In her administrative career, she has served as a Dean of Education and Professional Studies. a Provost, and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Her research interests include teacher preparation and career development, organizational change, and Education Law. Currently, she serves as the Coordinator of the Professional Development School network at Georgia Southern University.

Amanda Wall, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor In Middle Grades and Secondary Education at Georgia Southern University. She received her Ph.D. in Teacher Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an M.A.T. degree in Latin and Classical Humanities from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research interests include Middle Grades education, motivation, and adolescent literacy. She has had extensive experience with clinical practice in schools and currently serves as the Professional Development School liaison at Langston Chapel Middle School in Statesboro, Georgia.

Kathleen Crawford, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Literacy Education at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Crawford received her doctorate degree in Curriculum Studies with a concentration in Teacher Education from Georgia Southern in 2016. Her current research interests include the role of emotions in teaching and learning and teacher candidates' emotional experiences of learning to read, particularly in elementary school. Recently, Dr. Crawford was selected to serve as the Professional Development School liaison at Langston Chapel Elementary School in Statesboro, Georgia.

Keyword Descriptors

Professional Development School, School - University Partnership, High Overty Schools, Youth at Risk

Presentation Year

2021

Start Date

3-9-2021 1:40 PM

End Date

3-9-2021 2:40 PM

Recommended Citation

Whitord, Ellen V.; Wall, Amanda; and Crawford, Kathleen, "The Professional Development School Model: Strategies to Promote Equity and Success in High Needs Schools" (2021). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 35.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2021/2021/35