Mentoring and Internship for teachers in Professional Development Schools

Across the country of Ethiopia, a centrally planned and prescribed professional development programme was implemented in schools, with the intention of enhancing teachers’ knowledge, skills and disposition, thereby improving student learning and achievement. This article explores and describes the lived experiences of teachers involved in continuous professional development in Ethiopian secondary schools. Grounded in constructivist and critical perspectives, data from the study illuminate that there was a disparity between what is conveyed rhetorically about professional development programmes and the actual practices in schools. The major barriers besetting the realization of teachers’ professional development were the narrow conception of professional development, a managerial approach to implementing professional development initiatives, ineffective educational leadership, appalling staff needs and motivation, and the intensification of teachers’ work.

Effective professional development practices are instrumental to the performance of schools as teachers play a pivotal role in shaping educational outcomes for learners in any country. In Zimbabwe, economic and social challenges have affected the availability, relevance, and effectiveness of professional development for teachers in public secondary schools. The principals' lack of instructional leadership and poor management skills have exacerbated the situation. Major gaps exist between current practices and strategic goals, highlighting the need for improved professional development. The study is motivated by the urgent need to rethink and redefine professional development in schools in Zimbabwe to improve teacher performance and retention. Situated in the interpretivism paradigm, this qualitative study used semi-structured interviews and document study to gather data. Findings highlight the urgent need for context-specific, continuous, and culturally responsive professional development programmes that address classroom management, discipline, and indigenous knowledge systems. Additionally, the study identifies the need for leadership training, enhanced support systems, and incentives for teacher engagement in professional development. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on human capital development in education, offering practical recommendations for improving professional development in resource-constrained and challenging environments.

This review study includes 43 articles from 2016 and 2017 focusing on teachers’ professional development, as guided by the following twofold research question: “What characterizes teachers’ professional development in school, and how does this development influence school improvement?” The review indicates that teachers’ learning processes need to be developed if they are to lead to school improvement. It is not enough for researchers simply to study learning processes in schools; they must also conduct formative intervention studies. Ultimately, while conducting research on these processes, researchers should provoke and sustain an expansive transformation process led by and owned by practitioners—leaders and teachers in the whole school. Findings suggest that more research is needed to show how outside resource persons, such as researchers, can contribute to school development in collaboration with teachers and school leaders at work.

The Impact of Teacher's Professional Development on the Results of Pupils at National Assessment of Knowledge

This exploratory study identifies the characteristics of elementary school teachers who were involved in professional development school (PDS) activities at one PDS site. It describes 42 teachers' level of involvement in the PDS partnership using both a subjective (respondents' self-report) and an objective (university team's assessment, based on the number and types of PDS activities in which teachers had engaged) measure of involvement. Using survey data collected at the end of the second year of the PDS's implementation, the researchers calculated univariate descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and correlation coefficients to profile who participated in the PDS and the extent to which they did so. They found that, on both measures of level of involvement, most of the teachers were somewhat or highly involved in PDS activities. While the two indicators are moderately, positively, and significantly related to each other, they yielded different results when they were analyzed in relation to four other sets of variables. The findings point to the need to explore more fully the characteristics of those teachers who do participate in PDS partnerships in order to develop more effective strategies to involve teachers in such collaborative arrangements and to achieve PDS purposes.

Problem. The development o f school/university partnerships is not a simple process. It requires collaboration between two groups o f professionals who come from different cultures, have developed different forms o f expertise, and operate under different organizational conditions and reward structures (Goodlad, 1990; Stoddart, Winitzky & O ’Keefe, 1992). Throughout much o f the last century, collaboration between schools and universities have often been unsuccessful. In order for Professional Development Schools to be successful in educational reform, it is necessary to focus on defining and delineating the essential characteristics of Professional Development Schools and the process o f their establishment. Purpose. The purpose o f this study was to (1) define Professional Development School and delineate its component parts; (2) describe its history, and chronicle the establishment of a Professional Development School; and (3) explore the implications o f Professional Development Schools for local school change, school/university relationships, and national standards. Methodology. This study used a descriptive, qualitative case study method based on interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts, to describe the Professional Development School (PDS). Data were collected from five primary informants, including two deans o f schools o f education, two national PDS specialists, and one local elementary school with its partnering. These data were used to define and describe the process o f establishing a Professional Development School. Findings and Conclusions. The study highlighted some o f the challenges involved in developing and establishing a Professional Development School. It documented the need to (1) provide a clear operational definition o f a PDS; (2) provide a substantial opportunity for developing relationships; and (3) use research to identify developmental stages o f the PDS.

Through sharing examples, the authors demonstrate how the analysis of long-term Professional Development School (PDS) problems and their evolution can serve as one indicator of growth in the PDS. Three persistent problem areas are identified: (a) building trust and relationships between university and school personnel, (b) reconceptualizing existing coursework to fit in the PDS context, and (3) making inquiry a central feature of the PDS. The historical evolution of these problem areas is traced through three phases of PDS development over a six-year period, including PDS Planning, PDS Pilot Year, and PDS Institutionalization. The authors conclude that, through careful analysis, PDS problems can be celebrated and utilized as one measurement of growth in PDS work rather than bemoaned and utilized to characterize PDS work as unstable and fragile. Finally, the authors call for other PDS practitioners across the nation to share their PDS problems publicly, beginning a national dialogue about the ways in which PDS problems lead to new and better PDS work.

PurposeThe study aims to present a logic map linking the Professional Development School (PDS) Nine Essentials as a PDS theory of action and offer an analysis of dissertations that compare outcomes of learning in PDS and non-PDS contexts.Design/methodology/approachFor this current study, the authors identified 25 of the 210 dissertations from a larger study that used a comparison methodology to provide a window into how learning in PDS and non-PDS settings may differ. In reviewing these comparison studies, the authors identified a set of clustered themes, as well as a variety of comparison constructs and measurements researchers used to determine the impact of PDS.FindingsFive themes emerged including (1) the experience of learning to teach in a PDS setting vs. a non-PDS; (2) the experience of teaching in a PDS vs. non-PDS; (3) teacher candidate quality in a PDS vs. non-PDS; (4) teacher quality in a PDS vs. non-PDS; (5) school leader quality in a PDS vs. non-PDS; and (6) K-12 student learning in PDS vs. non-PDS.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of this study include the complications related to comparison, logic-related fallacies and the complexity of capturing simultaneous renewal.Originality/valueIn the 30th year of PDS work, the study utilizes a theory of action comprised of linking the PDS Nine Essentials to situate the comparison dissertation analysis of outcomes in PDS and non-PDS contexts suggesting challenges and possibilities and perhaps a direction for new research questions.

In literature about P–20 partnerships, Professional Development Schools (PDSs) are a focal point. PDSs play a role in initiatives pertaining to clinically based teacher education and equity in P–12 education. Claims about PDSs’ impacts are widespread. PDS research, however, has been hampered by a conspicuous absence of common frameworks for contextualizing or evaluating evidence regarding PDSs’ effectiveness. In response, the authors of this review synthesized a descriptive framework through a document analysis of PDS descriptions from 223 journal articles published from 2008 to 2022. The framework established three domains of PDS characteristics: startup components, organizational components, and partnership core components. Within-domain analysis suggested that while localized approaches are a hallmark of PDSs, PDSs’ patterned aspects are transferable and can be systematically described. Concluding with implications for PDSs and other partnerships, this article’s key contribution is an intellectual foundation for more systematic future research surrounding PDSs and similar P–20 partnerships.

Purpose This metasynthesis of Professional Development Schools (PDS) scholarship focuses on research that examines PDS as an entity – a systemic, multifaceted innovation that builds on and affects multiple dimensions of teaching and learning across educational contexts. Design/methodology/approach We contextualize our work within scholarship that documents the challenges and affordances of PDS, discuss previous reviews of PDS scholarship and describe our methodological metasynthesis. Findings Among our significant findings was the surprisingly small number of studies (n = 4) that focused on PDS as a layered entity. Other significant findings related to the lack of attention to cultural and linguistic diversity in comprehensive studies of PDS spaces and the methodological limits of much PDS research. We highlight the importance of circulating and boundary-spanning leadership, evolving collaboration and peer learning, challenges and benefits due to the complexity of PDS spaces and few efforts to directly measure PDS effectiveness. Research limitations/implications With our focus on peer-reviewed research articles, we may have overlooked book-length reports, which may have contributed to our analysis. Further, the PDS spaces described in our sample were relatively new (i.e. operating for five years at most); more established sites deserve detailed researcher attention. Practical implications We call for: (1) multidimensional analyses involving various PDS participants and varied data sources, (2) mixed-methods studies that merge quantitative measures with rich ethnographic data and (3) longitudinal approaches to explore PDS spaces over time to learn about the formation and sustenance of PDS spaces as well as threats to sustainability. Social implications We advocate for: (1) teams of researchers using parallel methods to document activities within and across PDS spaces and (2) systemic attention to community voices and equity practices in PDS spaces. Originality/value To counter the tendency for PDS scholarship to focus on logistics and implementation, we engaged in a metasynthesis of PDS research to explore PDS as an entity – a systemic, multi-faceted innovation that builds on and affects multiple dimensions of teaching and learning. We found very few studies that met these criteria.

This analysis of professional development school projects across multiple sites began as a discussion in the Teacher Education Research Study Group (TERSG) at the 1996 annual meeting of the National Reading Conference. Teacher educators interested in literacy shared their collaborative projects and examined their professional development school (PDS) activities at four universities. Participants were interested in challenging the traditions of conventional teacher preparation programs, specifically the contexts in which programs that pushed against orthodoxy were formed, the governance structures by which they operated, and the benefits and challenges of the collaboration between two disparate cultures. Although projects demonstrated idiosyncratic responses to varying contextual conditions, the results of our separate efforts were surprisingly similar. We believe that the ongoing challenge of reforming teacher education will benefit from an analysis of our experiences. The professional development school (PDS) concept is intended to connect theory and practice in education so they reciprocally inform each other. Teachers in collaborating schools help preservice teachers learn the profession. Preservice teachers, in turn, bring new ideas, viewpoints, and practices into classrooms. Through the PDS process, school and classroom practices and teacher preparation can change and evolve. PDSs have been established to move toward a concept of preservice training with simultaneous renewal of schooling and the education of educators through the bumping together of university and school cultures (Goodlad, 1993). Osguthorpe, Harris, Harris, and Black, (1995) chart the struggle for a common or shared perspective when prospective partners engage in collaboration. The collaborations we describe focus on two overarching goals: strengthening the preparation of teachers and renewing K-12 education. We agree with Osguthorpe et al. (1995) when they argue that only when partners are committed to these goals and working together as equals can true collaboration occur. For the goals of the PDS for student interns and school reform to be met, there must be a concerted effort on the part of the participants to make changes in both schools and the universities. Project Descriptions The four projects we describe are PDS projects of various sizes, in differing locales, with assorted funding and governance structures, and at several stages of longevity. The goals of each project, however, are quite similar. Purdue University Calumet Purdue University Calumet (PUC) is a large commuter campus in northwestern Indiana, adjacent to the Illinois border (Bergeron, 1997). The student population is nontraditional and reflects the cultural diversity of the urban Midwest. PUC's School of Education enrolls approximately 450 undergraduate students each semester. This population includes older adults, often first-generation college students bringing varied experiences to the classroom. The PDS partnerships were initially developed to meet the dual demands of increased enrollment in the elementary education program and growing concerns for offering multiple field experiences prior to student teaching. Presently, preservice teachers have extensive field experiences related to five methods courses, including reading and language arts, that are mandatory prior to student teaching. The university was challenged to acquire appropriate numbers of classrooms for these multiple placements and to find sites that would ensure quality experiences for the preservice teachers in diverse settings appropriately reflecting the demographics of the campus's multiracial, multicultural communities. The PDS partnerships were informally initiated in fall 1994 with five interested school-based administrators; the partnerships presently include eight school districts and a total of 21 elementary schools. Each district and school determines its own level of involvement with the partnerships. …

PurposeThe field of Professional Development Schools (PDS) continues to evolve with promising implications. As part of advancing practice, the National Association for Professional Development Schools has updated its nine essential guiding principles, which now includes an explicit expectation for all PDS partners to advance equity, anti-racism and social justice. This article is a call for critical professional development work which infuses Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) practices into achieving the Nine Essentials.Design/methodology/approachIn this call-to-action article, the authors argue that it is imperative for the whole of PDS work to establish a priority for inclusive practice that recognizes and responds to all aspects of diversity in education from the outset, including disability. The authors suggest that PDS work must be guided by an intersectional approach that is operationalized to achieve equity in education by dismantling both racism and ableism in education. The authors use an action-based example from our PDS work to exemplify these elements in practice.FindingsIn this article, the authors put forth two arguments that they urge their PDS colleagues to consider. First, the authors call for practices within PDS to give attention to improving student learning in ways that specifically address disability and intersectional considerations related to disability. Second, the authors urge that PDS work must be conceptually and practically inclusive in order to achieve the social justice impact put forth in the comprehensive mission of the Nine Essentials.Originality/valueThere is a growing body of literature around PDS that addresses theory to practice research and best practices in PDS settings. While some recent publications address inclusive PDS practices, the authors were not able to identify any works related to DisCrit in the PDS literature to date.

Moving teacher preparation programs into professional development schools has begun to change teacher education in the United States (Goodlad, 1993; Winitski, Stoddard, & O'Keefe, 1992). Conventional teacher preparation programs introduce prospective teachers to current theory and practice in a series of campus-based courses, followed by an intensive experience in practice teaching. In contrast, teacher preparation courses in a professional development school WDS) offer new and veteran teachers opportunities to test theoretical constructs from preparatory classes against the daily press of work with students (Stallings, 1991). Moving a teacher preparation program from a university campus to public schools should infuse the schools with a steady flow of new ideas, challenging both inservice and preservice teachers to adapt their practice to improve student learning. Whether teacher education programs follow the precepts of the Holmes Group (1991), Glickman, Hayes, and Hensley (1992), or Goodlad (1993), the purpose of collaboration in a professional development school is to improve practice among both new and seasoned teachers, lending force and coherence to local school improvement plans and creating a center for the development of knowledge for the teaching profession. In a Vermont professional development school, teacher candidates must learn to adapt theoretically promising techniques to always complex and often deeply entrenched local conditions. Sponsoring teachers must learn to integrate techniques brought to their classrooms by novices who understand only partially how their classrooms work. A professional development school creates in which universities and schools share in the preparation new teachers and where mutual renewal is a shared goal (Godlad, 1993). Simply transplanting university courses to the schools does little to improve practice in either setting. To support reform, teacher education faculty must redesign their courses to support ongoing experimentation in a setting that becomes inherently unstable as change takes hold. In this article, we describe the evolution of teacher preparation courses in six secondary schools in Vermont that are integrating teacher preparation programs with their school development plans. The Evolution of Vermont's Professional Development Schools Professional development schools in Vermont have evolved gradually from a commitment shared by schools and the university to support the growth of the teaching profession. Over 10 years of PDS development at the secondary level, schools and the university have agreed on a collaborative approach to change that places high value on improved teaching but allows each school set its own agenda. Local conditions vary, but the central principle remains the same: If teachers are consistently supported over time in a way that will allow them to develop and grow as they teach, they will gradually professionalize themselves (Leo-Nyquist, 1990, p. 1). Three recent adaptations of the preexisting campus-based program have allowed teacher preparation courses conducted in professional development schools to support school and professional renewal simultaneously: * Integrated Practica: Each secondary education course includes a practicum in which interns test educational theory in practice and in which continuous testing forces personal theories to evolve. * Results Orientation: Each course requires students to make something happen in the life of the school, to use what they are learning to make a difference among students and teachers. * Professional Portfolios: Each course requires students to assemble evidence that they can contribute to student learning and school change (Dollase, 1996). Teaching interns must demonstrate mastery of learning from the teacher preparation curriculum in a school with its own unique character and evolving sense of purpose. While school-based interns are completing their first teaching licensure requirements, teams of professional teachers in a PDS are involved in a school development course, conducting research over a full school year in support of school improvement (Clarke et al. …

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics presents a vision of what necessary components should be included in teaching mathematics to support the reforms presented in the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards . The six Professional Standards offer insight, guidance, and vignettes explaining how a mathematics teacher at the K–12 levels can and should guide their students in the attainment of mathematical power. The Holmes Group, a consortium of Deans from Colleges of Education within large research universities in the United States, has as its primary goal to reform teacher education programs as well as to professionalize teaching. The evolution of the Professional Development School (PDS) began prior to the first report by the Holmes Group in 1986, Tomorrow's Teachers . The Holmes Group's vision of what a PDS encompasses includes development of novice professionals, continued development of experienced professionals, and the research and development of the teaching profession. This study researched how well the mathematics teachers within six secondary PDSs demonstrate the NCTM Professional Standards as they teach and the extent of their professional development activities. The research questions that guided the collection of data are: (1) What is the effect of teaching in a PDS on professional activities in WVCTM and NCTM? (2) Has involvement in a PDS led mathematics teachers to a teaching style that reflects the NCTM Professional Standards? (3) Are the teaching styles of teachers who have been in PDSs longer more likely to reflect the NCTM Professional Standards than those teachers in the newer PDSs? Phase one of the study consisted of a questionnaire designed to ascertain the experienced teacher's involvement in professional development activities, and phase two consisted of classroom observations. An observation form developed by Dr. Jerry Stonewater of Miami University of Ohio was utilized. Based on the results of this study, it does not appear that this particular Holmes Group university is influencing the professional development of secondary mathematics teachers. The professional development workshops offered for PDS teachers encompassed broad topics and did not address mathematics pedagogy or the NCTM Professional Standards.

PurposeThis study provides an analysis of professional development school (PDS) dissertation research that focuses on learning in PDSs. These 103 dissertations written between 1990 and 2020 address an aspect of learning in PDS work, including inquiry as a pedagogical learning tool, student learning PK-12, intern/teacher candidate learning, university teacher educator learning, and inservice teacher learning. From the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that there is still no clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences..Design/methodology/approachWithin each of these categories, the authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. As the PDS movement enters its third decade of inquiry and builds its efficacy on models of learning, the findings provide insight into the degree to which PDS scholars are building on the past to determine future PDS research agendas around learning.FindingsThe authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. The themes included: intern learning does happen in PDS sites; PDSs provide structures for intern learning; teacher educators can learn from their PDS work; dissertations in the area of student learning overwhelmingly had inconclusive findings, except for research that focused on targeted interventions, which demonstrated student gains.Research limitations/implicationsWith fewer PDS-focused dissertations being written in more recent years, the authors wonder if the complexity of PDS may be a deterrent to the growth and sustainability of this model?Practical implicationsFrom the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that the authors still do not have a clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences. However, the authors are beginning to understand the types of studies that are needed to move this agenda forward and hope the work will help inform the PDS community of some.Originality/valueThis is the first known study of PDS dissertations across time.