University of St. Francis
ACI Member Partnership Case Studies: University of St. Francis
By Barbara S. Ingold and John Gambro
Author Biographies:
Barbara S. Ingold is a Grants Administrator in the College of Education at the University of St. Francis.
John Gambro, EdD, is Dean of the College of Education at the University of St. Francis.
Abstract:
The University of St. Francis partnered with the Joliet Professional Development School Partnership (JPDSP), utilizing funding obtained through ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need Schools’ grant from the U.S. Department of Education Teacher Quality Enhancement-Partnership Program. The JPDSP experience has produced candidates with improved dispositions toward and confidence in working in urban high-need schools. This outcome has resulted in a significant increase in the number of highly qualified teachers in District 86.
Body:
Introduction
Established in 1920, the University of St. Francis (USF) is a Catholic Franciscan institution offering undergraduate and graduate programs. Comprehensive and coeducational, the university serves approximately 1,400 students at its main campus in Joliet, IL, and more than 2,100 students at off-campus sites throughout the country. USF adopted university status in 1998, following a merger with the Saint Joseph College of Nursing. The University of St. Francis offers 41 undergraduate and 17 graduate programs housed in five colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Nursing and Allied Health, and Professional Studies) with 88 full-time and 260 part-time teaching faculty members and 260 part-time teaching faculty members. USF is a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education accredited institution.
The mission of the College of Education (COE) is to prepare competent and caring educators who understand students, serve the community and develop professionally in order to become ethical decision-makers and leaders. Serving approximately 700 students, the college prepares undergraduate and graduate candidates for initial teacher certification in elementary, secondary (English, math, science, biology, social science: history), and special education. COE also offers advanced major programs—Teaching and Learning Program, Educational Leadership Program, and Reading Specialist Program—leading to the master of science degree and related certification when applicable.
Living its motto, “Students Today, Learners for Life,” Joliet Public Schools District 86 seeks to empower students to become lifelong learners, responsible citizens, and caring members of their communities. In partnership with parents and the community the district aims to create a safe and positive environment for all students to learn and develop to their greatest potential. These are lofty goals, indeed, when one considers that the district serves over 10,000 students (pre-school through grade 8) in one early childhood center, 15 elementary schools, and four junior high schools, and that low-income families make up more than 65% of the student population. The ethnically diverse student population is 47% Hispanic, 31% African-American, 17% Caucasian and 5% multi-racial.
Project Overview
What became the USF Teacher Quality Enhancement Program (TQE-P) project took shape with creation of the Joliet Professional Development School Partnership (JPDSP), established during the 2003-2004 academic year as a result of converging needs. The district administration and Farragut Elementary, the latter placed on the Illinois State Watch List as it struggled to meet the mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), are located just one block from the USF main campus. In keeping with TQE-P goals, COE felt its teacher education programs would be greatly enhanced by providing teacher candidates with enriching experiences in urban high-need schools consistent with the mission of COE and the university. A chance conversation between the USF president and the District 86 superintendent set in motion events leading to the launch of JPDSP a year later.
An innovation being tried in many states to close the achievement gap, professional development schools (PDS) are partnerships between professional education programs and preK-12 schools. They require significant commitment on the part of each partner, in part because they run against the grain of the way teacher education programs are traditionally structured as largely university-driven with little feedback or input from local schools. The PDS responds to the criticism that traditional teacher preparation suffers from a gap between theory learned at the university and practical applications in elementary school settings. Implementation of the PDS model requires a core change in teacher education philosophy. A PDS challenges partners to view teacher preparation collaboratively, similarly, perhaps, to this adaptation of an old African proverb, “It takes a village to train a teacher. It takes the whole educational community to prepare our effective teachers for the twenty-first century” (Chance, 2000, preface).
In addition to improving teacher education programs, PDS are expected to lead to greater student learning due to parallel university/school collaborative inquiry and research PDS partners undertake to determine the most effective instructional practices that meet the needs of their students. Teitel (2003) asserts that PDS further support student learning because they also collaborate in offering programs and services of social workers and mentors. He points out the wider community benefit a PDS often provides such as access to university facilities, museums, and labs.
Shared decision making, mutual commitment, and trust among partners form the core PDS foundation, a set of relationships built painstakingly over time. At the end of the first year of the partnership, the JPDSP leadership team, which had been meeting monthly, held a strategic planning session to reflect on the successes of year one and the challenges to be addressed and to develop a vision for the future. The team focused on the NCATE PDS standards as a guide for JPDSP strategic planning. During the session, the JPDSP mission and vision were drafted, goals were set, and a strategic plan was prepared. A second District 86 school, A. O. Marshall, was invited to join JPDSP. At this stage, the JPDSP was selected as the USF project in partnership with the Associated Colleges of Illinois’ Center for Success in High-Need Schools, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education Teacher Quality Enhancement-Partnership Program. Since 2004, the JPDSP has grown to include partnerships with four District 86 schools, the district’s Department of Special Services, and Joliet Junior College.
JPDSP Mission and Goals
The JPDSP mission is to enhance collaboratively the professional preparation of teacher candidates and to promote continuous exemplary professional development of all JPDSP constituents. JPDSP seeks to improve student achievement through research-based practices carried out in an innovative teaching and learning environment in a diverse urban setting. The goals of the JPDSP are expressed in the four cornerstones of the partnership: Professional Development, Teacher Candidate Preparation, Action Research and Student Achievement.
The Professional Development cornerstone is intended to provide high quality teachers for high-need schools through continuing professional development of practicing educators to support improved student achievement. Through this cornerstone a community of learning has been established, which calls on faculty, administrators, staff, and students at all partner institutions to recognize the value both of learning from each other and learning together. Reciprocal professional development is a prominent feature of this cornerstone as well as significant enhancement of professional development libraries and in-service teacher classrooms at the partner campuses.
The Teacher Candidate Preparation cornerstone is designed to enrich the ranks of high quality teachers for high-need schools with teachers well prepared to support improved student achievement. Improving teacher preparation through extensive collaboration, including intensive, closely supervised field experiences, the alignment of district and university curriculum, and the use of state of the art technology, are key elements of this cornerstone. Through the co-teaching field experience, model teacher candidates become recognized members of the school educational team and are treated like staff members. In this field experience model, teacher candidates and cooperating teachers work together as a team with a common goal--to enhance student learning and development.
The Action Research cornerstone exists to foster inquiry-based research designed to improve teaching practices and student learning. The action research process includes literature review, data gathering and analysis, and data application to improve curriculum and instruction within the classroom. Finally, the purpose of the Student Achievement cornerstone is to focus efforts to improve student achievement at our partner schools on the first three goals and to provide a wide array of services that support the holistic development of students physically, socially, emotionally, and academically. In adopting an “educating the whole child” approach, JPDSP reflects COE’s conceptual framework. In order to fulfill this goal, various areas within USF have engaged the JPDSP mission, including the College of Nursing and Allied Health, the social work department, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the recreation, sport and tourism management department.
JPDSP Project Initiatives
Numerous initiatives have been undertaken over the past five years within each cornerstone to enhance the partnership, strengthen the teacher education programs, and improve student achievement at partner schools. Examples are listed below:
Professional Development
1. Urban education and culturally responsive teaching workshop
2. Collaborative workshops facilitated by the College Arts & Sciences
3. Attendance at state and national conferences
4. Reciprocal staff development seminars
5. Classroom technology enhancement professional development sessions
6. Local service agency field trips for JPDSP members
Teacher Candidate Preparation:
1. Innovative field experiences with enhanced supplementary professional development
2. Curriculum and technology alignment between partners
3. Collaboration with Arts & Sciences for the addition of teacher specific courses
4. Collaboration with Joliet Junior College to expand field opportunities and articulation
Action Research:
1. Introductory action research workshops
2. University faculty on-going support for established partner school projects
3. Monetary support for action research projects
4. Dissemination of results including poster presentations of research projects at state and
national conferences
Student Achievement:
1. State required physicals, immunization, and sports physicals provided annually
2. Social Work internships at partner schools
3. Assessment and diagnostic academic services provided to partner schools
4. Onsite, content specific learning experiences provided to partner schools
Project Outcomes and Impact
Teacher Candidate Preparation
JPDSP transformed the teacher education curriculum and effected changes in the dispositional attitude of teacher candidates towards urban high-need schools. The partnership with Joliet schools via JPDSP has enabled candidates to have high quality experiences working with K-8 students from diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic groups. Partner schools A.O. Marshall, Farragut, Parks and Dirksen serve communities with large numbers of low income families, the majority of whom are African American or Hispanic. The candidates who complete field experiences at partner schools have excellent opportunities to learn how to draw from their students’ cultural knowledge to enhance student learning, and to practice strategies to help English language learners be successful.
Field experiences at JPDSP schools include a yearlong internship, in which the teacher candidates are immersed in the school culture. JPDSP internships follow the co-teaching model, bringing additional teaching support in the classroom that allows for greater individual attention for students, as well as differentiated instruction. To provide necessary planning time for co-teaching, JPDSP provides a “rotating” substitute teacher who takes over the class while the in-service teacher and the teacher candidate plan together. Each partner school has a field experience supervisor responsible for all of the teacher candidates at that school. Field experience supervisors have developed keen understanding of their school’s culture, are on-site daily, and are familiar faces in the halls and classrooms of their schools. They know all of the in-service teachers and get to know each of the candidates enabling them to:
• Provide valuable input for the teacher candidate placements,
• Coach the teacher candidates for the entire year, and
• Supplement the field experience with seminars aimed specifically at issues found in urban high-need schools.
Although not all USF teacher candidates complete formal field experiences at JPDSP partner schools, efforts are made for as many of them as possible to experience the partnership during at least one of the their field experiences. In addition, all undergraduate elementary and special education candidates interact with JPDSP students during classes. Currently, the college requires three courses (EDUC 375: Methods of Teaching Math in the Elementary School, EDUC 385: Methods of Teaching Social Studies and Science in the Elementary School, and EDUC 373: Diagnostic Techniques of Teaching Literacy) that permit candidates to teach lessons for JPDSP students. Moreover, professional development opportunities and materials provided by JPDSP are made available to all teacher candidates regardless of their placement.
Catherine Nelson (2007), an assistant professor in the College of Education, recently completed a research study on JPDSP as part of her doctoral dissertation. Her findings shed light on outcomes associated with our PDS partnership and contribute to understanding of PDS outcomes in general. She focused her research on teacher candidate confidence levels, as well as their disposition towards teaching in urban high-need schools. Her results indicate that candidates in JPDSP schools developed confidence that their field experiences prepared them for teaching in urban, high-need schools. In addition to increased disposition toward teaching in these schools, candidates also actively sought positions in these schools. The documented hiring of more thanr 65 new teachers from USF by the Joliet Public Schools District 86 in the past five years provides impressive support for these findings.
One of the teacher candidates who did her intermediate and advanced field experiences at a JPDSP partner school describes succinctly the added value of the PDS model over traditional teacher preparation:
Everyone always asks what is the difference between a traditional school and a PDS, and I would have to say it is the support that I receive from all those involved The JPDSP has challenged me to figure out the kind of teacher I want to be not only professionally but emotionally. Each day in my classroom, with my cooperating teacher, I was given the opportunity the see how fulfilling it is to teach students in an urban setting. The professional development opportunities I have had helped me to better understand my students cultural and economic issues and how to help the students to succeed in school and in life. All four cornerstones—professional development, student achievement, action research and teacher candidate performance— really help in the development of the teacher candidates and the elementary students. (S. Hogan, personal communication, February, 2009)
Student Achievement
JPDSP has also stimulated changes at the partner schools. Farragut Elementary was removed from the State Watch List within one year of the partnership and all of the partners accomplished continued growth in student achievement levels over the five-year period displayed below:
Table 1: District and Partner School Student Achievement Levels (ISAT scores)
| LEA | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|
District 86 (partnership est. 2004) |
51.0% |
53.5% |
56.4% |
66.7% | 70.1% | 72.2% |
|
A.O. Marshall Elementary (partnership est. 2005) |
N/A | 53.7% |
59.3% |
62.2% | 70.1% | 72.2% |
|
Dirksen Jr. High School (partnership est. 2007) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 69.5% | 82.0% |
|
Farragut Elementary (partnership est. 2004) |
52.3% | 57.5% | 62.7% | 71.1% | 68.1% | 66.7% |
|
Parks Cultural Studies Academy (partnership est. 2008)* |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
*School established in 2008, ISAT scores currently embedded in A.O. Marshall scores
In fact, in 2006, A.O. Marshall and Farragut elementary schools were named ISBE Spotlight Schools (50% or more of students on free or reduced lunch, 60% or more meeting or exceeding established standards). The benefits of the JPDSP clearly established, all of the partner schools include the JPDSP in their school improvement plans and the JPDSP is seen as a viable resource as the schools address the issues they face. The JPDSP has provided much needed curriculum and additional resources to the partners. For example, Basic Reading Inventory (BRI) materials were given to close to 100 teachers and COE faculty conducted more than 15 workshops for in-service teachers and teacher candidates on the use of the these materials.
As noted earlier, other areas of the university also contributed to the JPDSP efforts. The JPDSP utilizes the College of Nursing’s Health & Wellness Center by offering state required physicals and immunizations to children enrolled in partner schools. Since 2006, first day exclusion of students who have not had state mandated physicals has been significantly reduced. Only one student was reported as being excluded in the 2007 academic year and none were excluded in the 2008 and 2009 academic years. Additionally, sports physicals are provided free of charge to those students who otherwise would be excluded from participating in the school sports programs due to lack of access to affordable exams.
Other colleges and departments at USF play a role in the JPDSP as well. Two science content courses have been developed by the College of Arts and Sciences—Life Science for Educators and Physical Science for Educators—and feature the university students visiting the partner schools to teach concepts from these classes to the elementary students. The Recreation, Sport and Tourism Management (RSTM) department also offers a course in recreation administration in which college students research, develop, and conduct recreational programs to supplement the physical education instruction at the partner schools which has evolved into an annual Camp Fitness program. The RSTM along with the visual arts department also hosted on the USF campus an “Eat Healthy, Move More” poster contest. Students from all of the Joliet Public Schools District 86 grade schools were challenged to design a poster addressing the theme “Nutrition & Wellness” to promote a healthy lifestyle. Forty-eight contestant finalists’ posters were on display at the university campus, and the six winners chosen received scholarships to USF’s visual arts summer camp.
Various initiatives of the JPDSP have fostered the belief in students and parents at these partner schools that a college education is important and attainable. The College of Education conducts the senior level Diagnostic Techniques of Teaching Reading course on both partner and university campuses with selected at risk students from Farragut and A.O. Marshall elementary schools. As part of the course work, the USF teacher candidates wrote a report, summarizing the assessment results, the reading strategy individually selected for each student, and the outcome of working with the individual students. This information was communicated to the classroom teachers who were able to monitor the students’ progress. This cooperative learning environment is one example of a successful program used to increase student achievement giving the elementary students involved the opportunity to internalize the importance of learning, and was made possible through the joint efforts of the JPDSP partners working together as a team. In fact, partner members reported often overhearing the elementary students say that it was time for them to go to their “college class.”
USF often hosts students from the partner schools on campus, for opportunities including 1) attendance and participation in a campus visit by President Barack Obama (then an Illinois Senator), 2) involvement in Earth Day activities sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, 3) Twenty-First Century Program’s forensic science session, 4) tours of the campus and snacks in the university cafeteria thus giving them an opportunity to begin envisioning themselves in a college setting, 5) Christmas door decoration judging and annual Christmas tree lighting, and 6) Halloween trick or treating in the corridors of the USF Tower Hall.
In addition, the partner schools invite USF employees and students for events on their campuses, such as 1) USF basketball players playing three-on-three basketball with Dirksen Jr. High School students as part of the culminating activity of a March Madness inter-disciplinary unit, 2) USF teacher candidates, faculty, and administration reading at family reading nights at the elementary partners campuses, 3) USF teacher candidates volunteering at family game nights at Dirksen junior high school, and 4) USF teacher candidates delivering gifts to the homes of families of students at district sponsored community events. All of this is being done to develop relationships with the school students and to pass on the dream of obtaining a college education.
Action Research
In-service teachers, teacher candidates, and university faculty have participated in inquiry-based studies that connect student learning and teacher development. Faculty members from the university have presented workshops on the action research process and then have collaboratively worked with teacher-researcher teams to facilitate problem identification, data collection, and data analysis. The data has then been used to modify curriculum and instruction within the classroom. Fifteen action research workshops have been conducted for interested teachers, and ten action research projects involving 20 in-service teachers and six COE faculty members have been completed. The results from these projects have been disseminated to all of the JPDSP partners through annual poster presentations, published in educational journals, and been the topic of presentations at both state and national level conferences. Action research continues with two projects currently underway, a joint mathematics instruction initiative between an in-service teacher and a COE faculty member involving both teacher candidates and junior high school students.
Professional Development
JPDSP has evolved into a true learning community where everyone learns, one that has presented workshops conducted by teacher candidates for in-service teachers and COE faculty, by COE faculty for in-service teachers and teacher candidates, and by in-service teachers for teacher candidates and COE faculty. Over the past five years the JPDSP has:
1. Conducted more than 75 professional development workshops for more than 150 in-service teachers, teacher candidates, and COE faculty on subjects such as English as a second language, basic reading inventory, homelessness and poverty issues, co-teaching and inclusion, Smart Boards in the classroom, response to intervention, gang awareness, science misconceptions, and astronomy and the classroom
2. Organized 20 collaborative Summer Workshops on Arts & Sciences for in-service teachers.
3. Expanded the Professional Development Libraries for each partner campus with the addition of more than 600 new books and educational resources.
4. Purchased SmartBoards for classrooms in the partner schools and university classrooms to ensure leading-edge technology is incorporated in the both the teacher education programs as well as in the partners’ classrooms.
5. Supplied more than 30 new laptops to the COE education classrooms to explore new software for use in schools.
6. Purchased software packages and licenses, including Inspiration, Kidspiration, and Comic Life, to enhance the teacher education programs.
7. Sent more than 35 presenters (in-service teachers, teacher candidates, and university facultyand administration) to state & national conferences over the past five years, and
8. Taken field trips annually to local service agency (homeless shelters, etc.) which are attended by teacher candidates and university faculty.
Lessons Learned
It is amazing to observe how far the JPDSP has come in the past eight years. Initially, there was a single leadership team, but as partners were added the JPDSP reorganized. Now there are five university and school-based leadership teams as well as a steering committee to keep the JPDSP moving forward. The JPDSP is fully integrated into the day-to-day operations of the partner schools and the College of Education. The JPDSP has strengthened ties within and across all of the partners and all are sharing resources and goals, the result being improved learning for all members, teacher candidates and students. And the JPDSP has come full circle with several teacher candidates from the early years of the partnership now serving as cooperating teachers for teacher candidate in their own classrooms.
The JPDSP experience has produced candidates with improved dispositions toward and confidence in working in urban high-need schools. This outcome has resulted in a significant increase in the number of highly qualified teachers in District 86. In addition, COE has seen a significant increase in teacher candidates selecting the JPDSP field experience as their preference as well as interest expressed by our secondary teacher candidates, so much so that there have not been enough placement positions to accommodate the requests.
The successes of the JPDSP were recently extolled by several of our partner administrators:
“The JPDSP has had significant impact on student achievement that might otherwise not have been possible.” Carol Sossong, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Joliet Public Schools, District 86
”Our partnership has grown tremendously over the past [six] years and I cannot imagine a building without it. Farragut was the original school involved when we started this process [formation of the JPDSP]. Since our involvement Farragut has seen tremendous growth in student achievement. Our partnership with the University of St. Francis has been a large part of our growth. One of the greatest benefits of our partnership is hiring our teacher candidates into full time teaching positions. As a principal, the benefit of hiring one of our teacher candidates is you know exactly what you are getting. You are not relying on paper documents. The candidate has been in your building for at least a year and sometimes a year and a half. In my experience though, the fact that the teacher knows and understands the culture of your building from day one is without a doubt the greatest asset of hiring our candidates. Over the past [six] years I have been able to hire eight candidates for my building. Unfortunately, I have not had enough openings to hire many of our outstanding candidates but I did do everything I could to find them a position. I attend job fairs for our district and I have seen a difference in the quality of teacher candidates from those who have been involved in a professional development school.” Wes Russell, Principal, Farragut Elementary School
”The partnership with USF [JPDSP] is one of the best parts of my job! Everyone is a winner! The partnership between USF and District 86 has brought about wonderful changes for our students, staff, and the teacher candidates. The students have benefited from having extra staff in the classroom to help them learn and explore their knowledge base. In addition all of the students have been able to visit the USF campus and see what college is like. The staff and teacher candidates have both learned from each other and because of this partnership many of our staff members have gone back to USF for graduate classes. Over the past few years I have been very impressed with the quality of students from USF. I have been able to employ several of the students in my building and also refer several others to other District 86 schools where they were hired on the spot.” Linda Scott, Principal, A.O. Marshall (formerly) and Parks Cultural Studies Academy (currently)
”Without any doubt, this partnership [JPDSP] was and continues to be an integral piece to Dirksen's successes this past year, as indicated by the ISAT scores. Both staff and students at Dirksen reap the benefits from having the university clinical students in our classrooms. The Dirksen school community looks forward to a great future with USF as a Professional Development School partner!” Kimberly Pfoutz, Principal, Dirksen Junior High School
Carol Sossong, perhaps, sums it up best, “Joliet Public Schools have been involved in numerous partnerships to varying degrees, but I can honestly say that the JPDSP has been and is a truly comprehensive partnership between our institutions that has led to numerous benefits for our students and teachers.”
Project Sustainability
Due to the numerous benefits realized by all partners, the partnership continues to thrive today. The most important benefit, of course, is the impact on student achievement. As noted above, JPDSP utilizes a co-teaching model for field experiences and internships. Co-teaching is a research-based strategy that has been demonstrated to be effective in increasing students’ academic achievement. The strategy involves two or more educators collaborating to: 1) coordinate their work to achieve a common goal(s) to which they both agree, 2) take on equally the various roles of teaching and learning, 3) take on equally the tasks and responsibilities of a traditional classroom teacher, and 4) maintain strong communication strategies with each other including joint planning periods, a shared trust, reflective monitoring of the progress of the team’s efforts, and holding each other and themselves accountable for successes as well as areas in need of strengthening (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2008).
Using this model with teacher candidates, lessons are collaboratively planned and taught by the teacher candidate and mentor teacher, providing more opportunity for differentiated instruction and individual attention. A recent study validated the co-teaching model as applied to the student teaching experience. The four year study found that students who were co-taught (with a teacher candidate and mentor teacher) statistically outperformed a single teacher or a teacher candidate and cooperating teacher using the traditional model of student teaching (Heck, Bacharach, & Dahlberg, 2007). By utilizing the co-teaching model, the partnership not only enhances the achievement of students, but also better prepares the next generation of teachers.
While the partnership is thriving, many challenges still exist, starting with the high stakes testing and accountability promoted by NCLB with little funding available to support these mandates. The current recession is placing a squeeze on both the University and District 86 budgets as everyone tightens their belts. The budget constraints impact the ongoing sustainability of all of the JPDSP initiatives; however, the steering committee has prioritized the initiatives to ensure the continuance of as much as possible through the respective institutional budgets. Opportunities exist to expand the partnership to additional schools, but expansion is currently not possible due to a lack of resources and external funding.
As we move into the ninth year of the partnership, the JPDSP has also been faced with administrative changes at the partnering institutions. It is well documented that this type of change can have a significant impact on a PDS in terms of maintaining continuity of the PDS programs. Another challenging area is ensuring that communications remain open among all members of the partnership to celebrate successes and address concerns. Thus far, the new administrators have embraced the JPDSP and its initiatives, mostly due to the perceived benefits and the development of an infrastructure that emphasizes continuous communication amongst all members of the partnership.
The future of the JPDSP is already beginning to take shape as plans are made to address the following initiatives:
1. Establishing an English as a second language teacher education program endorsement
2. Restructuring teacher education programs to further integrate the response to intervention initiative
3. Examining the feasibility of establishing an early childhood teacher education program
4. Redesign of the beginning field experience program to enhance and expose all potential teacher candidates to the immense possibilities of a teaching career at high need schools,
5. Development of high school partnerships with corresponding enhancements of the secondary teacher education programs.
References
Chance, L. (2000). Preface. In L. Chance (Ed.), Professional development schools: Combining school improvement and teacher preparation (pp. 7 –8). Washington, DC: National Education Association.
Heck, T., Bacharach, N., & Dahlberg, K. (2007). Changing the face landscape of student teaching: The Co-teaching experience. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators, San Diego, CA.
Nelson, C. J. (2007). Pre-service teacher confidence levels: The effect of an urban professional development school experience. Unpublished dissertation, Aurora University, Aurora, IL.
Teitel, L. 2003. The professional development school handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Villa, R. A., Thousand, J. S., & Nevin, A. I. 2008. A guide to co-teaching: Practical tips for facilitating student learning, second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.