Moving from Partnerships to Professional Development Schools (PDS) Building Blocks For Success Leslie K. Day PDS Director SUNY Buffalo State.

Moving from Partnerships to Professional Development Schools

(PDS)

Building BlocksFor Success

Leslie K. DayPDS Director

SUNY Buffalo State

Purposes of Partnerships

• Often to solve a problem, challenge, or identified need

• Think about your partnership and why it came together

Buffalo State’s Professional Development Schools Consortium originally rose out of the need to teach and work smarter in our teacher candidate field placements

In the Beginning….

Perspective of

College Faculty

In the Beginning…

Perspective ofTeacher Candidate

In the Beginning…

Perspective of Mentoring

Teachers and School

Administrators

In the Beginning…

Perspective of

Young Learners

Then What?

Joy Lots of

ideas

Excitement

Volunteers to participate

Renewed energy

Enthusiasm by all

partners

100% PDS in Elementary Education

• 100/200 level courses – observing and tutoring at PDS sites

• 300 level methods courses – taught on site with professor at the PDS two days a week

• Student Teaching Cohorts- supervisor in residence two days a week

As well as…

Some nerves

Occasional

apprehension

A lot of questions!

Roadblocks to Effective Partnerships

Lack of clear purpose or

vision

Inadequate monitoring plans

Lack of support from those with

power

Inequitable balance of decision making

Misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities

Poor communication

Building Blocks to an Effective PDS Partnership

1.Relationships2.Common Vision and

Mission3.Institutional Support4.Communication5.Frameworks6.Governance7.Professional Development

Opportunities

1. Relationships: The Cornerstone

• Start with the partnerships and relationships that are already in place

• Meet regularly to discuss your goals• Build on the familiar and what works• Engage in the work of PDS together• Value and respect the contributions

of all stakeholders• Celebrate achievements!• Break bread!

In the beginning and in the end, it’s the people that matter!

Enjoy one another!

Share meals

and stories!

Encourage collegiality!

Invite all

stakeholders to

the table!

Genuine Relationships

• Built on mutual trust• High levels of respect• Commitment• Balanced power• Shared credit• Work together• Seek first to understand, then to be understood

(Covey)• Use identified strengths to address needs• Often fun and rewarding

2. Common Vision, Mission, and Goals: The Blueprint for making the pieces fit

together

• Begin with the end in mind (Covey)• What do you want your partnership to look

like?• How can you develop a feeling of community?• How do all stakeholders benefit?• How is the whole better than the sum of its

parts?• What will it take to build a strategic

partnership?

SUNY Buffalo StatePDS Consortium Mission Statement

 The Professional Development School (PDS) Partnership between the Teacher Education Unit at SUNY Buffalo State and participating schools and community services is a collaborative effort. The partnership is dedicated to college faculty, school administrators, practicing teachers, and teacher candidates exploring effective practices to:

(1) cooperatively mentor teacher candidates and provide close connections to authentic classroom practice;(2) promote shared professional development for all constituents; (3) impact student learning; and(4) research innovative and best educational practices

3. Institutional Support:the Building Warranty for sustainability

• Buy in by the university• Buy in by the school district• Buy in by all the stakeholders• A win-win situation (Covey)• Shared resources

Shared Resources

Grocery StoresLaundromatsSchool PartnersLocal Museums

4. Communication: The Circuitry for getting things done and moving forward

• Built on mutual respect• Frequent and on-going• Meaningful for all parties• Multi-faceted• Build social media connections

http://pds.buffalostate.edu/

• Connect With Us Facebook

• Instagram

Flyers

“Snail Mail”

Emails

5. Partnership Frameworks: the Scaffolding to hold your efforts together

Frameworks for Effective Partnerships 2001: NCATE Standards for Professional Development Schools

2008: National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) Nine Essentials

2010: NCATE Blue Ribbon Report- 10 Design Principles for Clinically Based Preparation

NAPDS: National Association of Professional Development Schools

www.napds.org

Please see your frameworks handout

6. Governance: The Building Plan for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How

• Consortium/Network/Consolidation

• Advisory Council/Board• Individual Partnerships

(schools and community)• Liaison Committees• Formal Written Agreements• Mission Statement• By-Laws• Regular Meetings• Coordinated communication

strategies• Roles and Responsibilities• Monitoring progress

SUNY Buffalo State Stakeholders

PDSConsortium

University and College

Personnel

Elementary and Secondary

Schools

Teacher Candidates

Organizations and Community

Involvement

Our Governance Structure

Consortium

Liaison Commit

tees

Partnership Monitoring

• One of many important roles of the governing bodies

• Accomplished in many ways…– Self-studies– Meeting and retreat evaluations– Surveys– Goal setting– Discussions– Accreditation processhttp://www.ncate.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=P2KEH2wR4Xs%3d&tabid=107 Please see

partnership monitoring handouts

7. Professional Development Opportunities: the Mortar to

grow high and strong

• Grants• Action Research Projects• Shared Resources and

Shared Practices – Synergy (Covey)

• PD Events – conferences, retreats, symposia,

• Consortium Meetings to share best practices

• Attending state and national conferences

Keynote speakers at conferences

Sharing results from action research projects supported by PDS grants

Teacher candidate presentations at local, state, and national conferences

No one ever said the journey was easy….

Thank You and Good Luck Strengthening Your Partnerships!

Leslie K. [email protected]