SITE-BASED TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS
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About Professional Development SchoolsHundreds of colleges and K-12 schools across the nation have collaborated to create professional development schools (PDS). Housed in existing elementary, middle and high schools, professional development schools are to the teaching profession what teaching hospitals are to the medical profession. Like all K-12 schools, professional development schools are sites for teaching children and adolescents, but their mission also includes preparing teachers-in-training and advancing the professional practice of experienced teachers and college faculty. In professional development schools, veteran teachers, college faculty, and teachers-in-training work collaboratively within the school setting to advance their understanding of teaching and learning and to meet the challenge of providing an exemplary education for every student. TNTC has adopted this model for its teacher preparation programs.
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TNTC Site-Based Model
In the site-based PDS model employed by The National Teachers College, the school site literally becomes a learning laboratory for the teacher residents, classroom teachers and College faculty. The school participates fully with the College in implementing the program. Mentor teachers serve as master teachers who apprentice the resident teacher candidates throughout the year. The College hires the Director and faculty for each site; provides guidance, authorization and accreditation; and grants the degree.
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Benefits to the School
The presence of the TNTC's Teacher Resident Program in the school not only provides the ideal setting for new teacher preparation, but is transformative to the school itself. Teachers and K-12 students reap the benefit of these bright, committed residents working side-by-side with them for an entire academic year. Teachers within the school are involved in myriad ways. They participate as mentors to the teacher candidates, as presenters in the curriculum/methods courses and, if qualified, as lead instructors of the graduate courses. By taking graduate courses during their residency, these teachers-in-training bring the latest, evidence-based best practices to the classroom and serve as a resource for the classroom teacher. Mentors engage in professional development to coordinate their own curricular goals with the College's curriculum. As such, the program provides a potent, yet unobtrusive vehicle for professional development within the school. The benefits to the school and its students are exponential.
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