R424, Public Colleges of Education and Centennial Schools

R424, Public Colleges of Education and Centennial Schools

R424-1. Purpose

To provide that the state's public colleges of education use centennial schools as on-site professional development centers offering preservice programs for teachers and administrators.

R424-2. References

2.1.

Utah Code §53A-1a-304(2) (Higher Education Use of Centennial Schools as Professional Development Centers)

R424-3. Policy

3.1. Legislative Authorization of Centennial Schools

- Title 53A, Chapter 1a, Part 3, Centennial Schools Program, encourages certain designated schools to engage in school reform and restructuring, including: strategic planning; the use of site-based decision making; establishing partnerships between schools and business and industry; increasing parental and student involvement in education; focusing on the totality of the student, including the development of collaborative relationships with other state and local agencies such as Health, Human Services, and the Juvenile Courts; designing personalized education plans or personalized education occupation plans for individual students; placing emphasis on the basics of education as well as on higher learning skills, and integrating technology into teaching and learning.

3.2. Higher Education Collaboration - Utah Code 53A-1a-304(2) provides "The State Board of Regents shall adopt policies for the state's public colleges of education to use centennial schools as on-site professional development centers offering preservice programs for teachers and administrators."

3.3. Relationships with Public Schools - Colleges of education have collaborative relationships with the public schools for a variety of purposes, including: preparing pre-service teachers, administrators and other school personnel; fostering the continued professional development of educators by offering in-service programs; and engaging in research on teaching and learning in public school settings. These collaborative relationships are consistent with the intent of the Centennial Schools program. School renewal and the reform of teacher education are mutually compatible and interdependent goals. As a consequence, the Board of Regents encourages the involvement of public colleges of education in the Centennial Schools program.

3.4. Participation Between Colleges of Education and Centennial Schools - To ensure that participation between colleges of education and public schools is meeting the intent of Centennial Schools legislation, the public colleges of education should:

3.4.1. determine the extent of their involvement in the Centennial Schools program as it relates to pre- and in-service preparation of teachers, administrators, and other school personnel and to the conduct of educational research, and

3.4.2. define the nature and scope of their collaborative relationships with the public schools, including but not limited to the establishment of professional development centers and/or professional development schools.¹ By their nature, professional development schools represent the highest level of collaboration between universities and public schools and require the commitment of time, energy, and financial resources on the part of both universities and schools.

3.5. Current Arrangements and Limited Resources - With respect to the involvement of public colleges of education in the Centennial School program, the Board of Regents recognizes the following:

3.5.1. Colleges of education have pre-existing arrangements governing the pre-and in-service preparation of educators in collaboration with the public schools, some of whom may apply for the Centennial School programs;

3.5.2. Given that there are over 700 elementary/secondary public schools in the state and that 100-120 may be selected to participate in the Centennial Schools program, the four public colleges of education lack the resources to work in close collaboration with all Centennial school applicants and/or participants and must therefore work more closely with some schools than others;

3.5.3. Colleges of education are encouraged to work closely with those schools with whom they have pre-existing arrangements pertaining to the preparation of pre-and in-service educators, particularly as they relate to the preparation of educators in established professional development centers and/or professional development schools; and

3.5.4. Public schools who wish to apply for the Centennial schools programs should not be disadvantaged in their application if their involvement with a public college of education must out of necessity be of a more limited nature than a professional development center and/or school.

3.6. Institutional Policies and Procedures - Each public college of education shall develop policies and procedures pertaining to the selection of professional development centers and/or schools or other collaboratively developed settings for the pre-and in-service preparation of educators and for the improvement of teaching practice and student learning.

3.7. Annual Report - Each public college of education shall report annually to the Board of Regents the following information:

3.7.1. the nature and extent of their collaborative relationships with the public schools as it relates to the Centennial Schools program,

3.7.2. a description of the efforts to establish professional development centers and/or professional development schools in collaboration with the public schools,

3.7.3. a description of the resources colleges of education and the public schools have expended to fund professional development centers and/or schools or other collaboratively developed settings for the pre-and in-service preparation of educators and for the improvement of teaching practice and student learning, and

3.7.4. a description of the resources needed by colleges which are consistent with the intent of the Centennial Schools program.

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¹ For example, the Graduate School of Education at the University of Utah has defined a professional development school as "a school in which university faculty work collaboratively with school practitioners over time with the goal of improving teaching and learning through: 1) upgrading the education of preservice teachers, administrators, and other school personnel, 2) providing professional development for experienced educators, and 3) engaging in field-based research and inquiry."

²This summary should include expenditures to fund professional development centers and/or schools among public schools selected to participate in the Centennial Schools program as well as in those not currently participating in the program.