Quality II: Partnerships

Statement of Distinction: An exceptional AILACTE institution is engaged in substantial P-12 partnerships that are forged on the basis of mutual goals for preparing effective beginning teachers. Partnerships include collaboration within and between institutions. This can mean that departments and faculty members in teacher education work with counterparts in the liberal arts, with teacher education programs in other institutions and/or with P-12 schools. Each partner has structures and resources to support the work of the collaboration. The attitudes and understandings of the partnership design support major goals of an effective teacher education program. The partnerships demonstrate sustainability over time.

A. Category: Culture/Institution

1. Partnership members embody the moral dimensions of the mission and goals of AILACTE. The partnership may address local needs of school and community, such as developing curricula to meet needs of a local school with high numbers of African-American students.

2. Partners support and reinforce caring and collaborative attitudes. There is open communication that exemplifies trust and appreciation of both like and differing perceptions of the world of teaching and learning. Team teaching by college faculty and P-12 teachers is a natural component of the partnership.

3. There is community recognition of the impact fostered by partnerships. Testimony by community members outside the partnership shows that they see the value of the collaboration and are willing to invest resources in supporting the partnership.

B. Category: Curriculum/Program

1. Collaborative curriculum should address values and goals of each partnership member, and be aligned with partners’ subject matter standards, resulting in a seamless P-16 continuum. Student teachers gain valuable experience, while P-12 pupils learn from them. The local districts hire a substantial number of students who demonstrate their capabilities in the district’s P-12 schools.

2. Curriculum reflects collaboration across subject areas among educators who teach in those areas. The partnership involves P-12 teachers in curriculum development of college courses, or utilizes P-12 teachers as subject specific methods instructors.

3. Member institutions reflect a commitment to the partnerships by ensuring the existence of the programs in their particular forms. The program impacts every level of the partnership, including pre-student teaching observations in the P-12 classrooms, co-teaching with mentors, P-12 schools providing space for college meeting on site, and college supervisor becoming a part of both the P-12 and college environments.

C. Category: Faculty

1. Educators, including P-12 teachers and liberal arts college faculty, share their unique expertise. Faculty assist their colleagues, both P-12 and college, by sharing what they know. College faculty learn from P-12 teachers, and vise-versa.
2. Educators in the partnerships teach with an understanding of, and agreement on, a mutual philosophical approach to teaching and learning. Both P-12 mentors and college supervisors support the use of the same strategies for student teachers to use to increase P-12 student motivation, such as hands-on learning.
3. Educators in the partnerships understand and demonstrate attention to an agreed upon conceptual framework in their teaching. All members of the partnership are in agreement on the performance measures for successful student teaching.