(Page 1 of 4) - United We Stand: K-12 and Teacher Educators Collaborating to Improve Education for All Students authored by Clarken, Rodney.

University/School Collaboration 1

United We Stand:

K-12 and Teacher Educators Collaborating to Improve Education for All Students

Section I: Content
A. Statement of the issue: Clearly state the issue that focuses your presentation, provide relevant background,
and place the problem in a broader academic context.

The quality of schools, colleges and departments of education (SCDEs) and K-12 schools are
being challenged in the media, society and government. Everyone seems to agree they are both
in need of improvement, but disagree on how to best accomplish this process. SCDEs and K-12
schools have much to offer each other and can serve as vehicles for mutual improvement.

Teacher preparation programs help teacher candidates obtain the knowledge, skills and
dispositions for K-12 schools, and K-12 schools and K-12 teachers help their students develop
the knowledge, skills and dispositions to become responsible citizens. University and K-12
teachers’ collaboration and cooperation can help all of their students better grow, develop and
learn. Teacher education students will be better prepared for the real world of teaching, and K-12
students will get more assistance to prepare for the real world of living.
Effective field experiences and clinical practice are vital to allow candidates apply the
knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed of professional educators in today’s world. Minimal
competence in each of these areas is necessary, but that competence develops gradual through a
systematic sequence of experiences that encourage understanding theory and mastering practice.
An environment conducive to professional learning depends upon collaboration between
university and school partners and accountability of all parties to one another combine.
This presentation describes the collaboration process, objectives and activities of a
school/university partnership. Through several cooperative ventures K-12 and teacher education
students and teachers are benefiting from the increased professional collaboration. They have
become allies to reform and renew education, and are redefining the ways that schools and
universities interact with one another to improve education for each of their students.

This paper discusses a successful collaborative relationship between a teacher education program
and K-12 schools and describes activities that have been developed to make teacher education
more effective and authentic. Preservice teachers take methods classes as a cohort group and
spend many hours in schools working with teachers and students. Teacher candidates prepare
and teach lessons in the field placements under the supervision of the classroom teacher and the
university professor. These experiences help teacher candidate become better teachers, as well
as help the students and teachers in the schools. This symbiotic relationship benefits everyone.
Through collaborative efforts like these, the university, public schools and communities have
become partners in providing excellent education and allies to improve educational opportunity
for all.

All participants in this process have been positive about the benefits of their collaboration and
are learning how to collaborate so everyone benefits. They have become oriented to the
expectations of their different programs and are cooperating to achieve complimentary
objectives. The university personnel have developed a very close relationship with the teachers
after several years of collaborating with them on different professional activities.

B. Literature review: Provide a synthesis of the literature or knowledge base related to your topic; highlight
competing hypotheses or major schools of thought.