On site seminars for education students

Continuity of supervisors for practicum aand student teaching cohorts

IRTs working as on site supervisors

Selection and placement of education sstudents by PDS school staff

On site courses and seminars for school staff at PDS sites

Paired schools for practicum and student steaching experiences

Staff from schools teaching in University ccourses

Mixed practicum and studenti teacher sseminar cohorts

The Madison Professional Development School Partnership is a formal relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Madison Metropolitan School District.

Introducing the PDS Partnership
The Madison Professional Development School Partnership is a formal relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Madison Metropolitan School District. They have joined together to establish teacher preparation and professional development programs that better utilize the strengths and resources of both institutions. In Madison, the PDS partnership involves four public schools; Midvale, Lincoln, and Thoreau Elementary Schools and Cherokee Middle School, and the UW School of Education elementary education program.

In the 1997-1998 academic year the partnership placed a total of 66 practicum and student teachers. The students were located at the four different schools, 20 students each semester in the Lincoln-Midvale pair and 13 students each semester in the Thoreau-Cherokee pair. Students at Midvale and Lincoln work towards certification at the pre-Kindergarten to 3 or 1 to 6 levels, while students at Cherokee and Thoreau work on certification at the 1 to 9 level.

Linking to a National Network
In 1990 the Holmes Group, a consortium of research universities in the United States, called for a restructuring of teacher education programs in the nation. The Holmes report established a general frame for the PDSs, in order to create collegial, performance oriented schools where experienced, expert teachers, university educators and pre-service students in education work together to create optimal learning environments for both adult and student learners. The Holmes Group, now the Holmes Partnership, is coordinated out of Ohio State University. It has established a national network for University-School partnerships to support the development of PDSs throughout the country to create a new institution designed to bring school and teacher education reforms together (Levine, 1997).This year the Madison partnership joined the national network, building from innovative partnerships between the Madison Schools and School of Education begun up to 10 years ago. The National network supports School-University partnerships through conferences and reports that bring together experiences and information from other PDSs. Belonging to this network has opened avenues for staff from PDS schools to interact with staff from PDS partnerships around the country.

The Madison PDS Partnership
This newsletter is a new feature of the Madison partnership and has been created to help the local community become more aware of the purpose and nature of the Madison program. This first edition will share some of the efforts and understandings of members of the Madison PDS community and the innovations being developed. The list below summarizes some of the features of the PDS program that differentiate it from a traditional elementary teacher education program.

A goal of the new Madison PDS partnership is to establish a base for a program that is being developed from within, taking into account the needs of schools, teachers, student teachers and the university. It is a program that is looking to learn and grow while providing an environment where all involved are able to do the same.

Levine, M. (1997). Introduction in Levine, M. & Trachtman, R. (Eds.), Making Professional Development Schools Work. Teachers College Press: New York.

The Madison PDS partnership is open to all students in the UW elementary education program to apply to join. However, there are a limited number of places available in any PDS and the number accepted varies to maintain a balance between practicum and student teachers and schools. Student teachers who are working towards their certification in either the prekindergarten-3 or the 1 - 6 level apply to the Lincoln- Midvale pair. Students who are working on their 1 - 9 certification apply to the Thoreau-Cherokee pairing. These paired placement schools allow the student teachers to gain first hand experience in classrooms at the different levels of their certification and allow the students stay with the same school pair for two or three semesters.

Why do students select to teach in a PDS site? Two student teachers from the Thoreau-Cherokee pairing shared their reasons for applying to the PDS program. Both agreed a primary reason was the diversity of the schools' populations. Neither Brenda Autz nor Cindy Albe were from diverse communities, but both believe they need to be able to teach diverse student populations if they are to fulfill their expectations for themselves as teachers. Brenda Autz explained that at Thoreau and Cherokee she has worked with students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse learning needs. She had heard of the excellence and the commitment of the teachers at these schools to teaching diverse learners and hoped to learn from their expertise. Brenda feels that she has gained a great deal from working at these schools by experiencing the wide variety of approaches e.g., team teaching and multiage classes, employed at these schools to meet the educational needs of their students.

Cindy Albe, also appreciates the diversity of experiences that the Thoreau-Cherokee sites have provided, but acknowledges that some of her selection reasons were more personal. She was looking for a program that provided strong connections, a smaller more responsive student seminar cohort and a supportive learning environment.

Close to the end of their student teaching experience and pre-service training both women reflected on what they felt they had gained from being part of the PDS program. One aspect that both found enjoyable was provided through the linking of the two schools. This provided continuity at many levels: first it allowed them to understand what students experience in the transition from elementary to middle school; second was continuity of the school communities; and finally the continuity of working with the same cohort of practicum students, student teachers, cooperating teachers and supervisors. Each student in the seminar can contribute their knowledge, allowing the cohort to problem solve together and identify with the shared experiences.

Another aspect both commented on was the benefit of the on-site supervisor. The knowledge that these supervisors had of the students, the cooperating teachers and the student teachers made discussing issues easier. Having the on-site supervisors also meant that problems or concerns could be dealt with rapidly. Cindy felt that they helped to establish a "safety net" with many informal opportunities to observe and discuss successes difficulties. Brenda saw a benefit of having Michele, the on site supervisor for Cherokee, as providing another outlet for sharing ideas, so as to not over rely on her cooperating teacher.

Brenda said that one of the experiences that she found to be the most enjoyable and provided a great deal of learning for her was becoming a "team member". She explained that as a member of a supportive team she could take on challenges at her own pace, set her own goals as a teacher and to try out new ideas. She found the combination of a very supportive environment and flexible cooperating teachers allowed her to develop her potential as a teacher.

SHAPE
Midvale and Lincoln are included in the SHAPE project, Students Helping in the Advancement of Public Education, as a result of their involvement in the PDS partnership. SHAPE is a tutoring program established by Marianne Bloch, a UW education professor. The program links education students with students in public schools who need extra support. Next year the program will be expanded into Cherokee Middle School.

One aim of PDS partnership is to better utilize the expertise of practicing teachers. A great deal of knowledge about teaching is found in schools and classrooms. Jenny Allen, Principal at Midvale, believes the development of the PDS partnership helps honor and should continue to honor this knowledge. She would like to see more teachers from the schools involved with teaching courses at the University. Midvale teacher, Rita Kehl joined Kathy Blomker for a day in her pre-K - 3 science methods course prior to the students practicum placements in math and science. Barbara Williams, from Thoreau, taught a section of the reading methods. Ken Zeichner from the UW education program is working on increasing this aspect of the partnership in the next year.

The PDS sites in Madison are schools where education students can experience first hand teaching in all its dimensions. The commitment of the 4 schools to the program means they involve the students as full members of staff, including staff meetings, special programs and school-based professional development. All these are aspects of teaching which are difficult for a university to recreate.

As more faculty from the School of Education become directly involved with teachers at the schools, a greater knowledge base for all is generated, bringing about a primary objective set out by the Holmes partnership for PDS, the bringing together of education reform in the schools and in teacher education programs.

The PDS partnership strives to achieve a strong education system that allows all learning, child and adult, to succeed. For this to happen it essential that all partners work together, no one being more important than others. The strengthening of one partner should also strengthen the other partners. In this way there are many aspects of the PDS partnership that benefit everyone. The ultimate benefit is creating better schools. The use of school-based seminars for the students at a PDS is a feature that benefits the program as a whole. Having the seminar at the schools allows many members of the staff to be involved in the PDS partnership. The weekly seminars for the Lincoln-Midvale and the Thoreau-Cherokee pairs alternated between the schools in the pairing throughout the year.

Sharing Teaching Experience
Jeff Maas met with the Lincoln-Midvale seminar and shared his knowledge of teaching, learning and assessment. Jeff has worked with the district to design language arts assessments for upper elementary children. He was able to discuss portfolio assessments, continuous assessment and designing effective learning and assessment activities in terms of theories and, importantly for beginning teachers, in terms of practice, classroom environment and curriculum. Further Jeff encouraged student teachers who he knew worked with other teachers at the school to share how they had observed these and other assessment models taking place.

A PDS student teacher interacts with children from Jeff Maas' classroom.

On-site seminars have meant the university has expanded its borders. Ken Zeichner regularly attends the Midvale- Lincoln seminar. Being in a school and part of a school community keeps university faculty involved in schools in a very real fashion. Further, Lincoln Principal, Carolyn Stanford-Taylor feels that Ken's visibility at the school is very positive and supports a growing connection between the university and school.

Greater Access
The school Principals have also been able to attend seminars. The Principals joined with the students during a seminar to discuss issues of their schools, hiring, and abilities that principals look for in prospective teachers. Cherokee Principal, Connie Valenza, feels the ability for her to connect with student teachers through the PDS partnerships parallels her role as an administrator, where she seeks to build connections. She further explained that the ability to connect with children is what she expects of teachers. Thus the PDS partnership makes it possible to for her to contribute her link to the future of the teaching profession.

This newsletter is for and about the Madison Professional Development School Partnership. It documents new and continuing developments of this program but does not cover the full range of the program or the experiences of individuals. Your comments, suggestions, and article submissions for this publication would be appreciated. If there is an area introduced here that you would like to see more detailed, or if you would like to share your experiences working in a PDS, please contact Links. Send your feedback and/or submissions to: hmeyer@students.wisc.edu (within the text of the e-mail works best) or mail to:

Helen Meyer
556b Teacher Education Building,
225 N. Mills St.
Madison, WI 53706-1795