Professional+Development+Schools

Here are the NCATE standards for professional development schools http://www.ncate.org/documents/pdsStandards.pdf

Here is a recently published article that discusses the characteristics of good professional development schools: http://ajte.education.ecu.edu.au/issues/PDF/334/KLIEGER.pdf

**Study ** || **Abstract ** || = Criteria for PDS = || Aviva Klieger and Anat Oster-Levinz. (2008). In Search of the Essence of a Good School: School Characteristics Leading to Successful PDS Collaboration.” //Australian Journal of Teacher Education. 33.4 // || // Professional Development Schools (PDSs) are collaborative // //ventures between schools and teacher training institutions. We identify the characteristics of a school that lead to successful PDS collaboration, relating them to Teitel’s model (2003) that merges the principal standards of // //collaboration with the stages necessary for developing a PDS. We then describe an external evaluation of a PDS in action in Israel, noting that it took several years to achieve some of the objectives; others have still not been met. Finally, we describe the school’s characteristics that contributed to its success as a PDS. // || -must be willing to integrate a number of subjects, several method instructors, and enough student teachers to enable resources to be pooled and to facilitate the option of working in interdisciplinary contexts; -must allocate an hour or two a week of the school timetable to work in a ‘learning community’ - must commit to participation in the PDS for approximately five years. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> || <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2001) identified four: <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1. **Beginning Level**: verbal commitments, organisation and initial work amongst PDS partnerships; <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2. **Developing Level**: partners are engaged in PDS work in many ways but their supporting <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">institutions have not yet made changes in their policies <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3. **Standard Level**: partners work together effectively, resulting in positive outcomes for all learners. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Partnering institutions have made changes in policies and practices that support PDS participants in <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">meaningful ways. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">4. **Leading Level**: changes in policy and practice in partner institutions; the PDS partnership has reached its potential for leveraging change outside its boundaries. || **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Locating comment ** || **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Data and methods ** || **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Logic of inquiry ** **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">(methodology) ** || **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Conclusions ** || <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">PDS has several main objectives: <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.0pt;">• <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">improving teacher and student teacher training; <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.0pt;">• <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">professionalising school staff; <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.0pt;">• <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">advancing student teachers and teachers’ collaborative research processes; and <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.0pt;">• <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">enhancing students’ learning. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> || <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">-qualitative research involving ongoing comparison and analytical induction <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">- Data were gathered through structured <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">questionnaires following content analysis. -The questionnaires were distributed among the participants in the learning communities, mentor teachers and student teachers. Categories were constructed by using etic groupings (Guba & Lincoln, 1994), derived from Teitel’s pyramid and research findings on PDS. || <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Teitel’s ‘pyramid model’ (2003) <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1. **Collaboration**: creating collaboration and developing it into a relationship of mutual commitment and interaction. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2. **Structures, resources and roles**: methods of organisation and operation of the partnership (new <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">roles, responsibilities, decision-making processes, organisational structures, resources and resource <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">allocation processes). <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3. **Learning community** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> || <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“The criteria that have proven most successful for selecting a suitable school include willingness <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and motivation on the part of management to accept the partnership and its conditions; the support of senior school staff who place the partnership high on their list of priorities and who present the school’s special interests clearly and as far as practicable from the wider perspective of the other parties; a systematic approach to integrating the student teachers in the school routine; a good school climate, in which both management and teachers provide role models; and the professionalism of the mentor teachers. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We believe that greater emphasis should be placed on meeting the school’s special interests; in other words, concentrating on the school’s special projects and enhancing students’ achievements during the first year of the collaboration while constructing a solid foundation for further progress.” ||
 * <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stages of PDS development ** ||