PDS - Professional Development Schools - Extending the Learning Community between SUNY Cortland and the Cortland Enlarged City School District through partnerships.The Professional Development School(PDS) model is an approach whose fundamental goal is increasing student learning through the establishment of a learning community involving school teachers, college-based faculty, teacher candidates, and students as well as administrators from both area schools and college. The main goals of the implementation of PDS projects are to: a) provide teacher candidates with a more authentic classroom experience; b) give school faculty an opportunity to engage in applied research with college colleagues; c) provide an opportunity for college faculty to have access to a real world environment to bridge the gap between theory and practice; and d) ultimately boost student achievement. This collaboration opens opportunities to prepare new teachers and provide them with faculty development using inquiry-directed practices in a foundation of shared interest, mutual commitment, and trust. This PDS model is also designed to dovetail with NCATE standards of: learning community, accountability and quality assurance, collaboration, equity, and diversity, and structures, resources, and roles. The SUNY Cortland/Cortland City School District PDS is in its very early stages. There are three collaborative projects that began in September 2008. They are The Teaching and Learning Unified Project (UTLI), The Math Partnership, and The Reading and Writing Collaborative. In a recent press release the project directors shared their goals, their successes and the challenges of their projects. A new secondary math PDS project has begun in September, 2009. The first phase involves professional development opportunities for high school math teachers by the college's math department. The high school teachers will then host the college's teacher candidates in the second phase. For more information on each project, click on the specific project titles in the lefthand column |