School Partnerships and Clinical Preparation at the Middle Level

Abstract

Strong school-university partnerships foster valuable clinical experiences for preservice teacher candidates at three universities.The blend of practice and research at the university reaffirms my deeply held belief that worthwhile knowledge draws on both worlds. Indeed, the separation of practice from theory, of practitioners from scholars, is more often than not a divorce that is more symbolic than real. (Cuban, 1993, p. xxi)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia require some form of specialized middle level teacher preparation leading to licensure or an endorsement (Association for Middle Level Education [AMLE], 2007), and accreditation agencies inform the practices and policies for the majority of institutions preparing middle level teacher candidates across the country. Current debates about the most efficient and effective ways to improve P-12 education include teacher preparation as the focal point (Darling-Hammond, 2010), and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning has highlighted the importance of school- university partnerships in preparing teachers capable of increasing student achievement (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 2001; 2010). Preparing middle level teachers to improve student achievement is becoming a major priority in the larger landscape of teacher education, and concerns about the nature and quality of specialized middle level preparation permeates larger conversations about licensures and endorsements within the field of middle level education. It is critical for middle level educators to participate in these conversations to ensure that middle school philosophy remains at the core of teacher preparation practices.In this article, we describe how three universities approach middle level teacher preparation through partnerships and clinical experiences. We share the structures of our programs and the role of our partnerships in the clinical preparation of our candidates. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by school-university partnerships and discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of engaging in such work. Finally, we will situate the implications of NCATE's Blue Ribbon Panel Report in the historical and social context of middle level education and offer recommendations for others seeking to develop clinical experiences through school-university partnerships.Clinical practice through partnershipsTeacher candidates often cite clinical field placements as the most powerful learning experiences of their preservice education. They tend to value field experiences over the content of teacher education courses, as the school context is very powerful and lends itself to the social nature of learning to teach. The physical divide between courses taken on college campuses and field work completed at local schools only exacerbates the disconnect teacher candidates perceive between theory and practice in teacher education. Candidates come to our programs valuing practice over theory and the very design of our programs presents the idea and reinforces it throughout their education.In an effort to help candidates value both coursework and field work, institutions of teacher education need to shiftfrom the traditional, universitybased approach of teacher preparation to a clinical approach with practice-based curriculum (Ball & Forzani, 2009). The NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel report calls for teacher preparation that is clinically based and integrates the practice and pedagogy of learning to teach (NCATE, 2010). School-embedded teacher preparation provides the opportunity to guide candidates to the explicit connections between what they are learning in their coursework and what they are observing and experiencing in their field work.Clinically-based teacher preparation is particularly important for middle level education candidates, as they need to interact with and learn from young adolescent students to value their unique developmental needs. …