CENTER STAGE
Professional Development School Partnerships
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ithout a doubt, professionals in today’s economy often need a competitive edge to land a job. To provide students with that edge, Ohio University’s College of Education takes great strides to ensure that students have as much classroom experience as possible. The Center for Professional Development School (PDS) Partnerships offers education students the chance to plan, teach, assess and differentiate instruction in a local classroom before they begin their mandatory professional internship (formerly referred to as student teaching). Each school/university partnership follows a unique model, focusing on different principles of learning and education reform. “PDS Partnership students have an ongoing relationship with the schools, including the teachers and administration,” said Marcy Keifer Kennedy, director of the Center for PDS Partnerships. The Center currently monitors ten active school partnerships. A Partnership focused on Special Education with the Alexander Local School District was added for the first time last year, and this year, the College saw the addition of Partnerships at Logan-Hocking Middle School and Southern Local. This was a great accomplishment for the College, as it made it possible for all students majoring in middle and early childhood to participate in PDS Partnerships.
Jenny’s experience
In the fall of 2006, early childhood major Jenny Troutman gained experience in both a first and third grade classroom at East Elementary in Athens, Ohio, as a PDS Partnership student. Troutman watched her students evolve each week. She learned how to interact with parents, gained experience through planning and teaching lessons, and worked on building relationships with other staff members. “They can’t teach this in a classroom setting,” she said. During the 2008-09 school year, Troutman became a Teaching Fellow at Chauncey Elementary. Teaching Fellows are licensed teachers who are placed in PDS Partnership classrooms to job-share the responsibilities of the
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classroom’s teacher. Troutman spent half of the school year teaching while simultaneously pursuing her master’s degree from the College of Education. Troutman currently teaches third grade in the Groveport Madison school district, near Columbus, Ohio, and said that her experiences definitely helped her land a job. “Going to an administrator with all of my experience was very helpful and I definitely stood out among the other applicants,” Troutman said. “In a tough job market, more experience will enable you to succeed.”
Benefitting local schools
Not only are PDS Partnerships beneficial to COE students, they are also very helpful to the schools and classrooms where the students are placed. Currently, Logan Hocking Middle School is in its first year as a PDS Partnership School. Principal Myles Kiphen said the school’s Partnership students are working with teachers to improve language arts scores. “It’s great having fresh faces and fresh ideas,” Kiphen said. Kiphen shared that the Partnership has allowed one-on-one tutoring and small group work for students. It has also allowed teachers to provide extra support for their students. Partnership students are involved in numerous reforms and cutting-edge programs that benefit the schools they are working in. With the Response to Intervention program at West Elementary, for example, Partnership students help to identify kindergarteners who are having difficulties learning to read. “Partnership students are able to work one-on-one with students and provide small group attention that would not be possible otherwise,” said West Elementary principal Joan Linscott. Partnerships also give teachers a chance to continue their learning. According to Linscott, “teachers refine their skills and become self-reflective” as a result of working with a Partnership student in their classroom. Linscott has hired many teachers that are former Partnership and Teaching Fellow participants. She believes they are excellent teachers, and said that former Partnership students have an edge in the interview process; they are able to “draw on quite a breadth of experience,” she said.