Professional Development School, Department of Teacher Education, CSULB

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Monday November 23, 2009

Professional Development School (PDS)

Members of the Department of Teacher Education began in the Spring of 2000 to engage in serious conversations with administrative personnel from the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) to create a Professional Development School (PDS) collaboration between the local school district and the College of Education at CSULB.

These discussions led to fulfilling a long-held dream of faculty in the Department of Teacher Education, notably Professor Emeritus Rita Jones. A PDS was established at Bret Harte Elementary School in Long Beach, a year- round, urban, 1500-student elementary school in a low socioeconomic, North Long Beach community. The project was funded for three years by a significant grant received from the Lucent Foundation in the Fall of 2000.

In addition to providing a unique pathway for becoming an elementary teacher in the Multiple Subject Credential Program (MSCP) affectionately nicknamed the COOL Option (an acronym for the Collaborative and On-Site for Optimal Learning collaboration), the PDS boasted two masters programs for teachers, a site-based university retreat, and classroom research access. In the Fall of 2001, the COOL/PDS was commended by U.S. Secretary of Education, Roderick Paige on a personal visit to the site.

Since students committed to all-day participation throughout their program, the COOL option for the MSCP provided full-time students the opportunity to complete their preliminary credential program as a cohort group with all students taking their classes simultaneously at Bret Harte which created many opportunities for hands-on, in depth participation at the school site working with pupils and master teachers. As a legacy of this project, students in the Integrated Teacher Education Preparation (ITEP) program housed in the Liberal Studies Department may continue to select to do their student teaching at Bret Harte.

The COOL/PDS professional development collaboration, led by Dr. Felipe Golez and Marsha Thicksten, exhibited possibilities for bridging the traditional barriers between university-based theory and public school classroom practice because it purposefully integrated site-based university methods theory courses with authentic classroom teaching performance. Many of the practicing teachers enrolled in site-based Curriculum and Instruction and Early Childhood Masters degree programs, led by Dr. Linda Symcox and Dr. Candace Kaye respectively, which featured action research based, reflective course assignments.

Positive research results were found from focus group evaluation of the program itself and from other research endeavors conducted by Dr. Shuhau An of the Department of Teacher Education and Dr. Steve Adams and Dr. Ali Rezaei of the Department of Educational Psychology, Administration, and Counseling (EdPAC).

Last update: 3/23/06