Urban Professional Development School Research Articles

Content Area Pre-Service Candidates Learning Language Teaching with Adolescent Immigrants in an Urban PDS Middle School

How do teacher candidates develop and reflect on their knowledge in second language literacy to support their students in a Professional Development School (PDS)? This article reports preliminary findings of a qualitative study that investigates the learning process of single-subject credential candidates in a pilot urban PDS site where they co-taught and co-learned in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program through an on-site seminar credential class. Data collection included, but not limited to, researcher observational fieldnotes, candidate reflections, term papers, and transcripts of interviews and performances. The study finds that in an interactive, social learning space created by the PDS setting, teacher candidates challenged their assumptions about teaching English among immigrant students, as well as identified language learning opportunities in traditional worksheet-based activities and a communicative project.

Reproducing Figured Worlds of Literacy Teaching and Learning: Examining the “Language-In-Use” of an Inservice and Preservice Teacher Enacting the Practice of Literacy Planning

ABSTRACTThere are international calls for teacher preparation programs to increase the quantity and quality of field experiences. The belief is that spending additional time in the field being mentored by inservice teachers will develop high-quality preservice teachers. However, the figured worlds of teacher education and the knowledge base of inservice teachers are largely left unexamined. This study took place within an urban Professional Development School and used critical discourse analysis to examine the “language-in-use” between one inservice teacher and one preservice teacher as they engaged in the planning of a literacy lesson. The authors identified the figured worlds of teacher, literacy teaching and learning, and mentoring, as interpreted from this discourse event. Findings include figured worlds of (1) teacher as the giver and withholder of knowledge; (2) literacy teaching and learning that appears inauthentic, contrived, and teacher centered; and (3) an understanding of mentoring as inservice teacher as giver of knowledge and preservice teacher as receiver. Implications for teacher education and teacher educators are discussed.

Distributed leadership: principals describe shared roles in a PDS

This paper examines principals’ descriptions of the implementation of an urban professional development school (PDS) network through the lens of a distributed leadership framework, in order to explore the role of the principal and its relationship to the goals of a PDS and its major stakeholders. By analysing semi-structured interviews with PDS principals, participant observation field notes and PDS School Action Plans through a distributed leadership lens, the authors seek to understand how principals describe the development and emergence of distributive leadership in a PDS network, and how descriptions of their PDS work connect to the development of various dimensions of their leadership. Based on data analysis, the authors propose three categories of emergent leadership interrelationships: frameworks, relationships and practice. These provide the basis for a deeper understanding of the critical aspects of leadership that PDS can facilitate in school leaders’ development and impact. The authors propose that principals construct meaning about their own leadership development and ability to enable effective school change by connecting their knowledge and understanding of what leadership entails and how it is shared with others. Research on the principal’s role in an urban PDS provides insights into how additional PDS roles provide new perspectives and opportunities for converting the principal into a change agent.

THE URBAN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL NETWORK: ASSESSING THE PARTNERSHIP'S IMPACT ON INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

In an era of dissatisfaction with the nation's prekindergarten through grade 12 schools and criticism of teacher education programs, professional development school (PDS) partnerships have emerged as one solution. Using quantitative and qualitative data obtained during the first two years of an urban PDS network that includes a large, private university and six local public and private schools, the researchers document how the PDS relationships influenced preservice candidate preparation, with specific consideration given to changes over time. Through the data, the voices of the participants emerge to help the researchers understand how preservice candidates, through the PDS model, are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to meet the needs of P–12 students in their future classrooms.

Professional Development on Multiple Literacies in an Urban Professional Development School

This is a narrative report of a three-year professional development effort taking place within a professional development school (PDS). University professors collaborated with teachers in an urban junior high school to work on broadening their conceptions of literacy to enable student success. At the end of the project, it was clear that the ‘professional development’ was just as profound for the university professors as it was for the teachers.

Closing the Gap: Enhancing Student Outcomes in an Urban Professional Development School

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of changes in student achievement at one urban elementary school involved in an eight-year partnership with a University. The school first became involved with the University through a research project designed to support the school's efforts at restructuring and soon became a full-fledged Professional Development School (PDS). Students' scores on high-stakes assessment measures were the primary data sources. These scores are presented in descriptive form- no statistical analyses were applied. Students' test scores increased over the years and were higher than the scores of students in comparable schools. Individual interviews were also conducted to obtain teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the effects of the partnership on student achievement. Interviews revealed that teachers and administrators perceived that students benefited in academic, social/affective, and general domains. Furthermore, they attributed gains in student achievement to their partnership with the University.

Professional Development on Multiple Literacies in an Urban Professional Development School

Professional Development on Multiple Literacies in an Urban Professional Development School

A Good Start: A Progressive, Transactional Approach to Diversity in Pre-service Teacher Education

Researchers of teacher education programs have lamented the fact that these programs do little to prepare teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse children. In this paper we problematize the traditional transmission teacher education approaches to diversity with respect to preparing teachers to teach reading and language arts to culturally and linguistically diverse children. Further, we use Banks' developmental stages of ethnic identity to discuss the potential impact (or lack of impact) of such traditional transmission teacher education on pre-service teachers. Our research then examines the potential impact of a progressive, transactional reading and language arts methods block of courses at an urban professional development school on pre-service teachers' understanding of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse children. Finally, we situate our findings within Banks' developmental stages of ethnic identity.

Teamed to Teach: Integrating Teacher Training through Cooperative Teaching at an Urban Professional Development School

One feature of current school reform efforts has been the formation of partnerships between schools and universities in the form of Professional Development Schools (PDS). In this article we describe a Professional Development School project at two schools in New York City that has resulted from collaborative efforts of staff members of Community School District #3, the United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, Columbia University. A major problem confronting teachers in urban schools is a pervasive sense of isolation. To combat this problem, a cooperative teaching approach was adopted as a focus of this PDS project. An outgrowth of this approach has been the joint preparation of special and regular education students enrolled in preservice programs.