What is a PDS?

What is a Professional Development School?

In 2012, SUNY Cortland’s School of Education established a Professional Development School (PDS) to develop formal partnerships with regional child care centers and public schools to support meaningful and authentic approaches to preparing tomorrow’s teachers while simultaneously promoting current teachers’ professional development and enhancing p-12 students’ learning outcomes.

The Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between the School of Education and participating schools necessitates collaboration among college faculty, P-12 school administrators and teachers, and teacher candidates to promote:

1. P-12 students’ learning outcomes
2. Effective mentoring of teacher candidates
3. Shared professional development opportunities
4. Ongoing innovation in educational policy and best practices in administration, teaching and learning.

Our PDS is designed to provide teacher candidates with one-on-one mentoring opportunities with inservice teachers and child care center providers so prospective teachers can become comfortable and competent working in professional environments, understanding school culture and facilitating student learning.

 As a PDS, we align our work with the National Association of School University Partnerships (NASUP) and are committed to continuous improvement of faculty and pre-service teachers through inquiry-based initiatives. Our work is aligned to the NASUP 9 Essentials and our PDS activities are designed to work toward reaching the essentials (NASUP, 2021):

1. A comprehensive mission that is broader in its outreach and scope than the mission of any partner and that furthers the education profession and its responsibility to advance equity within schools and, by potential extension, the broader community;
2. Clinical preparation that embraces the preparation of educators through clinical practice;
3. Professional learning and leading that provides continuous learning and leading for all participants, guided by a need and a spirit and practice of inquiry;
4. Reflection and innovation that includes responsive innovation and generative knowledge;
5. Research and results cultivated by collaborative research and sharing results in a variety of outlets; 
6. Articulated agreements developed by PDS participants delineating roles and responsibilities of all involved;
7. Shared governance structures that allow all participants a forum for ongoing governance, reflection, and collaboration;
8. Boundary-spanning roles so university faculty and P–12 educators operate in well-defined roles that transcend institutional settings; 
9. Resources and recognition to enhance, celebrate and sustain the work of partners and partnerships.

All three departments in the School of Education currently maintain more than 20 PDS partnerships throughout the central New York area.