Westlawn teachers and administrators presented with GMU faculty members at the National Association for Professional Development Schools for its exemplary yearlong pre-service teacher program.  Thursday night, Westlawn  along with schools from other school districts were recognized for its work with GMU and their PDS Program. The picture is above. Westlawn is a Collaborative Inquiry School.

Hats off to Amy Stoffel, Michelle Doyle, Amy Werking, Kate Whelan, Mallory Maher, Lynne Paraiso, Linda Ferguson and Audra Parker (GMU professor) for presenting, “The Yearlong Internship Model as a Catalyst for Building and Maintaining a Robust PDS Partnership.” They presented to a packed room. It was so exciting for all of us. click for PowerPoint Presentation NAPDS Westlawn Presentation Final

It takes a village to have a wonderful community. Each and every member of our school community were referenced in the presentation as members of a productive, warm, and inspiring school culture.

We are wearing Green and Gold on Monday to honor our interns and GMU graduates! 

 

Key Terms:

Professional Development Schools (PDS): innovative institutions formed through partnerships between education programs and P-12 schools. The mission of PDS partnerships is to take responsibility for teacher preparation, faculty development, enhanced student learning, and data-driven inquiry directed at the improvement of practice. Ultimately, the goal of all PDS work is to positively impact P-12 learners.

Clinical Faculty (CF): a highly effective classroom teacher who has three years of teaching experience and has completed a three credit graduate course in mentoring, supporting, and assisting interns during internship.

Year Long Interns (YL): students who are part of the Year Long Internship cohort; these students are admitted for a spring start and complete four consecutive semesters, including two semesters of internship during their final fall and spring semesters.  Some of these students may be eligible for substituting. Change to note: For final internship, year long interns may be in one of two paths 1) fall placement in either primary or intermediate classroom (clinical faculty training not required) and spring placement in opposite age group with a CT or CF OR 2) full year placement with one CT or CF in either a primary or an intermediate classroom with supplemental experiences in the opposite age group.

The expectations for each level of engagement are as follows:

• Partner Schools:
  • Host Mason elementary pre-service teachers in their early fieldwork, which includes observations, one-on-one tutoring, and/or small group work.
  • Have access to clinical faculty training for teachers, but this is not required for teachers hosting early fieldwork students.
  • Have access to Mason faculty for staff development nee
• Clinical Practice Schools:

In addition to the expectations listed for Partner Schools, Clinical Practice Schools agree to

• Host 5+ Mason elementary pre-service teachers during their semester long and/or year-long internship experiences on an alternating basis.
• Work collaboratively with University Facilitators in internship supervision.
• Collaborative Inquiry Schools:

In addition to the expectations listed for Partner Schools, Collaborative Inquiry Schools agree to

• Host 5+ Mason elementary pre-service teachers during their year-long internship experiences.
• Work collaboratively with Mason faculty in internship supervision.
• Engage in organic, inquiry-based research and grant projects emerging from the collaborative work of Mason faculty and school faculty.