The Clay School District's partnership with the University of North Florida to develop Professional Development Schools provides both prospective teachers and mentor teachers the opportunity to experience professional learning that is grounded in teacher questions (inquiry), collaborative, connected to and derived from teachers' work with their students, sustained, intensive and connected to other aspects of school change.  This partnership serves to enhance the educational experiences of all children; it is an effort to ensure high quality induction into the profession for new teachers. Additionally, the project is designed to engage teachers in the schools in furthering their own professional growth.  The interns will have the opportunity to develop an inquiry stance towards teaching by participating in a variety of inquiry investigations. The model is deslgned to support collaborative work in a non-competitive culture focused on best practices for children. There will be seminars developed by university and school-based teacher educators to build the capacity of the interns and mentoring teachers. Dr. Lauren Gibbs is our lead co-partner in this work with the University of North Florida. 

The old model of assigning and supervising interns by SPRINT specialists did not explicitly develop the school; this model is designed not only to provide the best support for interns, but in addition, to build the capacity of the school's staff to meet all students' learning needs. Rather than have the former Sprint Specialists in Clay County for two days a week, and the other three spent at UNF, now the seminars and classes can be conducted on the school campus.  This provides the opportunity for classroom teacher leaders to lead seminars and attend them as well.

There are no previous outcomes because this is the first year of implementing the Professional Development School Parntership model. 

More than twenty years ago many educators advocated the creation of school-university partnerships called “Professional Development Schools” as a strong vehicle for educational change and as new models for teacher education and professional development for all educators (Goodland, 1990; Holmes, 1986; Holmes, 1990; Levine, 1992).  Darling-Hammond (1998) described Professional Development Schools (PDS) as spaces where prospective teacher and mentor teacher learning becomes 1) experimental, 2) grounded in teacher questions, 3) collaborative, 4) connected to and derived from teachers' work with their students, and 5) sustained, intensive, and connected to other aspects of school change.

The goals for Clay County's Professional Development Schools include (1) enhancing the educational experiences of all our students, (2) ensuring high quality induction into the profession for new teachers, (3) engage in furthering our own professional growth as school and university based teachers and teacher educators and (4) preparing the next generation of teacher educators who will go on to create, sustain and renew school university partnerships that are committed to excellence in teacher preparation and professional development through inquiry. 

This project will allow Clay County School District to build the capacity of the current teacher workforce.  It will provide opportunities for district and university leadership to collaboratively coach and mentor teachers in research-based practice. In addition this model will allow the district to bridge the gap between research and classroom practice.  

This plan for Professional Development Schools aligns with Goal 5: Develop and support great educators, support personnel, and leaders. In addition it supports Strategy 5.1: Recruit, screen, hire, and retain top candidates that reflect the diversity of each school, our districct, and community. 

That the School Board of Clay County approve the 2018-19 recommendation to enter into the Professional Development School Partnership with the University of North Florida.