While most international educational development projects are engaged in capacity development, trainings rarely have enough depth to result in lasting changes in the capacity of local stakeholders. The case of the Nigeria Centre for Reading, Research and Development (NCRRD) at Bayero University Kano used a different model. Six NCRRD faculty spent…

Tuning is a faculty-driven initiative designed to improve the quality of higher education by establishing transparent and fully assessable learning outcomes and proficiencies for degrees, discipline by discipline. Unlike many other initiatives in the United States which function within an individual institution, the Utah Tuning Project involved…

Deliberate investigation into practice is an essential of the National Association for Professional Development Schools' defining elements of a Professional Development School (PDS). This article reports on the pilot efforts of one PDS as it initiated deliberate investigation through action research with a small group of teacher candidates. The…

This paper describes a project to implement a professional development program for teachers of language minority students in five urban elementary schools, in partnership with a university. The model involved: (1) providing a core group of volunteer primary grade teachers at each school with intensive training in an integrated reading/language…

Results of this study indicate that administrators and teachers seem to be saying that university-based consultants are better at writing about elementary school change than they are at working in the field to implement change. (IRT)

During the 1995-96 academic year, faculty and administrators in the College of Education at Illinois State University, (Normal, IL) and teachers and administrators from a local school district established a Professional Development School (PDS). A group of 32 of the university's elementary education majors were placed at school sites in the local…

Effects of a staff development program on the professional lives of four elementary school teachers were studied. The Teacher in Residence partnership of the University of Alabama brings experienced teachers to the college for terms as adjunct faculty, allowing them to clarify what they have known and recommit to teaching. (SLD)

Describes an Australian study designed to promote professional growth of beginning elementary teachers through participatory action research. Beginning teachers collaborated with university faculty, forming action research groups which focused on specific aspects of teaching. Data from teacher journals, reports, and meetings indicated that…

Describes the experiences with collaborative partnership, of a novice elementary teacher who was teaching writing and a university researcher, arguing for the intentional collaboration of such partners as a form of staff development. The article lists benefits of collaborative inquiry and presents guidelines for developing collaborative…

Examined a model of practicum supervision adopted at one university that involved intensive supervision by all faculty members. Data from observations, interviews, journals, and conversations found that the model strengthened the school-university partnership, enhanced the practicum and campus program, and helped faculty gain knowledge and…

Describes a professional development experience in which elementary teachers and college faculty participated in an Inquiry Seminar housed in the elementary school over 3 years. Teachers discussed classroom action research, and college faculty reflected on problems of practice in today's elementary classrooms. The boundary-crossing activities…

Describes a university/school collaboration that helped tailor a curriculum for gifted Brazilian elementary students. Analyzes stumbling blocks, discusses circumstances favoring the emergence of collaboration, and notes benefits (fuller integration of theory and practice in education and establishment of a policy to provide for differences in…

This paper describes one professor's sabbatical leave, when he returned to a third/fourth grade classroom as a teacher. It examines logistical arrangements necessary for success and insights gained. He worked in a Professional Development School (PDS) for 1 year, mentoring a PDS intern, 2 student teachers in the traditional preservice program, and…

Professional development schools (PDSs) are usually viewed as school-university partnerships aimed at regeneration of teacher education and/or the reform of public schools in general. This paper examines the gap between creating a PDS structure and achieving these goals, suggesting that bridging the gap may require destabilization of both faculty…

The Plains Elementary School/Ohio University Partnership Project began in 1991 as a collaborative effort between a university and a public school to restructure the professional development of preservice teachers, elementary school staff, and College of Education faculty. Each year a cohort group of approximately 25 Ohio University junior-level…