Working Together to Prepare Urban Teachers Barbara Charness, Principal Sepulveda Middle School Los Angeles Unified Schools Nancy Prosenjak, Professor California State University, Northridge

The Partnership for Teacher Preparation Teachers For a New Era Large urban school district 721,000 pupils in 8 mini-districts Large comprehensive urban university 32,000 students; 2500 candidates A network of 3 schools: elementary, middle, high school in feeder pattern

The Organization Site Administrators actively involved Site Director at each school Site Leadership Team at each school Site Liaisons assigned to each school –CSUN Arts and Sciences Faculty –CSUN COE Faculty Network Coordinator from university Network Advisory Board (school/univ.)

Goals for Candidates Develop an understanding of the mission and functioning of the school site within the community it serves Meet and understand the roles of all personnel who work within the school community Observe effective teaching in a variety of levels/subject areas, examining and focusing on specific elements Participate in a variety of classrooms using adopted curricular materials Gain experience with planning and delivery of standards-based instruction

LAUSD / CSUN Model 1. Contextualization to the school site Total immersion for a full-day cohort of graduate teacher candidates (2-semester program) Orientation to the site by administrators, site director, staff Attend initial staff meeting and later professional development, grade-level meetings, parent events Daily school-based and K-8 classroom experiences University courses taught at the school site in a designated classroom with work space Technology course taught by a staff member in school’s lab Focused observations in selected classrooms K-12; debrief

Contextualization to the school site for clusters of part-time teacher candidates Orientation to the site by administrators, site director, staff Invited to attend initial staff meeting and later professional development, grade-level meetings, parent events Classroom observation across subject areas Planned, focused observations of selected classrooms Student teaching seminars meet on site Panels, demonstrations, discussions by school staff across subject areas Focused observations in selected classrooms; debrief

Unique Features A Teaching Lab has been established at the middle school site Annual professional development workshops focused on elements of effective teaching On-going support for mentor teachers Year-long position for professor-in-residence Cohort members co-plan/co-teach 6 th grade social studies with methods instructor Early fieldwork opportunities at each site

Strategies that Worked! Program was jointly conceptualized Designed to include faculty from many university departments Network Advisory Board rotates meetings between sites to include other staff and to stay within the context Joint presentations at PDS conference offer time to learn and to inquire together

The Results Committed faculty and administrators Shared expertise and exchange of ideas Innovative programs are emerging Systemic renewal of professionals Cohort members have entered the profession well prepared for their first year in an urban setting 3 members of the cohort are first year teachers at a clinical site, Sepulveda Middle

Future Directions: More, More, More Continue to refine assessment tools to gather more evidence of the effectiveness of the partnership model (on pupil achievement, on systemic renewal of personnel— site/university) Sustain and further develop the partnership at these sites and develop more sites through more visibility in the district Attempt to implement this model for more teacher candidates Bring more programs preparing school personnel (counselors, psychologists, administrators) to the clinical sites