Element One: Collaboration Between Unit and School Partners

Initial Programs: The school has a long history of collaboration with its K-12 partners. Professional Development School (PDS) relationships have developed at two levels that differ in the degree of commitment and involvement of all participating stakeholders. The school has it strongest relationships with Anchor Schools (see Master Schedule 11-00). This type of relationship involves a long-term commitment to candidate involvement in every aspect of the K-12 school environment. Anchor schools often host a cohort of candidates during their entire teacher education program. Courses are taught at the schools resulting in instruction being immersed in the school environment. The school's longest Anchor School relationships exist with Cold Spring Academy and Center for Inquiry, both urban schools in the Indianapolis Public School Corporation. These relationships have been continual for the last 6 years. Once a cohort has completed its two-year program, these Anchor Schools have been willing to accept a new cohort the next year.

Initially the schools were concerned about having 25-30 candidates in their school at one time. However, over the years the relationships have proven beneficial to all involved parties. Candidates gain invaluable experiences in an urban setting and the practicing teachers have an opportunity to learn along with the candidates. Faculty members are in the schools with the candidates as they move the program and often provide professional development to the teachers as a part of the relationship.

A second type of relationship is the Partner School. These schools often commit to working with candidates within a given block and accept new cohorts each semester or alternating semesters. These schools also collaborate with IUPUI to provide student teaching placements for some candidates from Anchor Schools. Although the Anchor Schools can often accommodate a full cohort for early field experiences by placing 2-3 candidates in a classroom, the need to give the candidates an opportunity to do some student teaching on their own necessitates candidates being placed outside the Anchor Schools.

The unit works closely with the K-12 stakeholders to design and deliver the programs. Often teachers from the schools will provide instructional leadership for courses taught on-site. The teachers also play an integral part in designing the early field experiences and coordinating student teaching placements for the candidates in the schools.

The process of selecting a PDS site is a collaborative effort. Many different approaches have been tried over the years. The need, however, to have the P-12 faculty involved in the decision has always been an overriding priority. Once a school has expressed interest in establishing a relationship with IUPUI, the school is asked to complete a School Information Profile. The unit then reviews the profile and decides whether to continue the process. An initial visit to the school by a team of faculty from IUPUI then occurs to determine the overall school and classroom environment and to discuss basic information with the P-12 stakeholders. The team does a presentation to the K-12 faculty detailing the different aspects of a PDS relationship with the unit. The school is then asked to assess the level of their faculty's commitment and support. The unit only will work with a school wherein a majority of the school faculty expresses a desire and willingness to become partners in the work of educating new teachers.

The team then reviews all the data and determines whether to proceed with the process. If the unit decides to move forward, the profile and information gathered from the visit are shared with the unit faculty. A decision is then made about establishing a PDS relationship with the school.

• Faculty from P-12 partnership schools are routinely involved in the assessment meetings held each semester by IUPUI.
• Student teaching mentors have been asked to provide feedback on the Student Teaching Framework. That feedback has been used to guide the changes made to the framework.
• A Partnership School Coordination (PSC) position was established recently. The PSC serves as the primary liaison between the unit and the P-12 community and is responsible for coordinating the development of an effective partnership schools network, according to the goals established by the unit for its teacher education programs.

Advanced Programs: Advanced programs are based upon the in-school experiences of practicing teachers. The school has one advanced program and multiple courses that are taught in P-12 schools. The Technology Master's is taught in Perry and Carmel Townships and at Cathedral High School. These school districts inquired about and have participated in the planning of these opportunities, and K-12 faculty help with the teaching. The school also schedules other graduate classes on-site when there is a request from schools or professional organizations.

Each candidate in a Curriculum and Instruction Master's Program completes a master's project, which can take a wide variety of forms, from designing action research to completing a National Board Portfolio. These projects require the candidates to communicate with and receive support from their school leaders. These projects involve activities like curriculum or assessment redesign, the creation of new programs for outreach to the community, or improving classroom practice.

Candidates in the Language Education or Special Education Master's programs often do internships in local schools. These internships vary in form from practicum in English as a Second Language programs to specialized reading programs to intense-intervention special education classrooms. The school's supervisors seek out dynamic placements, communicate with administrators, and work alongside the candidates and mentor teachers in these placements to plan and reflect on the candidates' experiences.

Element Two: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Field Experiences and Clinical Practice

Initial Program: Field experiences in the school's teacher education programs are sequential and an integral part of the program. Each block has an associated field experience (see Elementary Teacher Education Program Overview). Courses are scheduled with the early field experience hours incorporated in the course time frame. This allows the experiences to be designed and delivered in a manner that best addresses the needs of the candidates. The school's faculty decided to assign one credit hour to each early field experience to emphasize the importance of the field experience to the candidates. Because of the integrated nature of the field experiences and coursework, candidates cannot "pass" a block's field experience if they do not receive passing (C or higher) grades in all the courses within the block.

Candidates in the elementary program complete 16-weeks of full-time, school-based student teaching. Candidates entering the program prior to Fall 2002 completed the entire 16 weeks during Block IV. The experience was divided into two 8-week experiences. The student teachers were required to teach at two different developmental levels. Candidates with endorsements would complete the second experience in the endorsement area. Any candidate doing more than one endorsement would have to complete an additional 6-week experience for each endorsement.

The student teaching experiences for candidates entering the elementary program starting Fall 2002 will follow the same basic design, except that the first experience will be completed at the end of Block III and the other experience at the end of Block IV (see Elementary Teacher Education Program)

The faculty has piloted this design with cohorts of students working in Anchor Schools. They have found that this design affords candidates an opportunity to reflect on their experiences from their first placement before entering the second. Some candidates in the Anchor School cohorts have experimented with student teaching as a team. Two candidates are placed with the same mentor teacher during the first experience and allowed to teach together. The faculty have noted that the candidates provide support and dialogue to each other, which facilitates their professional growth. For the final experience the candidates are placed as individuals in a classroom. This same model is being used in the Secondary Science Transition to Teaching Program. In the Elementary Transition to Teaching Program, starting in summer 2003, the field experiences and student teaching will be integrated much like those of the Science Transition to Teaching.

Secondary candidates also complete 16-weeks of full-time, school-based student teaching. One experience must be in a high school and with the other in a middle school. Visual art candidates also complete 16-weeks for their K-12 program, with the two developmental levels determined by the Art Department based on the developmental levels of the candidates' early field experiences. The Art Department determines the student teaching placements to assure that the candidates have field experiences at all developmental levels. Physical Education candidates also complete a K-12 program. The manner in which they are placed in their early field and student teaching experiences mirrors that of the visual arts candidates. Physical education candidates have completed 12 weeks of student teaching in the past but will complete 16 week starting Fall 2003 to address the new IPSB development standards.

The selection of early field experience sites is a collaborative effort. During Teacher Education Meetings the faculty discuss the selection of field experience sites from a programmatic view (see TE Meeting 8-29 and School Rotation). Candidates are placed as a cohort in one or more schools to complete their early field experiences. Schools with whom the unit has established an Anchor or Partner relationship are considered first. Other schools may be used if they have a curriculum focus which will complement the curriculum taught in the block. For example, a mathematics magnet school would be considered for early field experience associated with the block containing the mathematics methods course. Faculty are encouraged to build long-time relationships with sites they select for early field experience and the sites are evaluated at the end of each academic year (see Field Experience Evaluation Instrument).

Candidates completing early field experiences in Anchor or Partnership Schools will often complete their student teaching there. The block instructors teaching in these schools make student teaching placements in collaboration with candidates and mentor teachers. In the future, this is the model that the unit hopes to use exclusively.

At this time, there are not enough placements in the Anchor and Partner schools to accommodate all student teachers. The school is using a new design to place candidates in other schools . During Block I, candidates complete a Student Teaching Placement Request Card ranking the four geographical quadrants of Indianapolis and surround school districts according to where they would like to student teach. The cards, along with student teaching applications the candidates have completed on-line, are given to the university student teaching supervisors who work with schools in the candidates' top quadrant. The supervisors review the applications and placement cards and then meet with the candidates.

After interviewing the candidates, the university supervisors recommend for each candidate, possible schools and/or mentor teachers within the quadrant. The Student Teaching Office will send placement requests to the schools that the university supervisors have selected. If candidates cannot be placed in a school in their top quadrant, then the notes from the initial interview are forwarded to the university supervisor familiar with the candidate's second choice. That supervisor makes recommendations for placements in that quadrant. This process continues until the candidates are placed. Candidates from Indianapolis and Columbus units may also elect to student teaching overseas or on an Indian Reservation through the Bloomington Cultural Immersion Project.

All university supervisors are specialists in the content area and/or developmental area that they supervise. Most have worked with the unit as supervisors for many years. They consistently work with schools in a given geographical quadrant and have developed relationships with the principals and teachers in their quadrant.

The university supervisors meet regularly as a group and with the unit faculty (see Teacher Education Meeting). University supervisors hold required student teaching seminars with candidates every two weeks where a variety of educational topics are addressed.

As a result of the school's commitment to preparing educators to work with diverse populations, field experience sites are mainly located in the Indianapolis Public Schools and surrounding school corporations. The demographics of these sites provide candidates with the opportunity to work with diverse student populations during early field experiences and student teaching.

All field experiences are grounded in the Principles of Undergraduate Learning. The early field experiences allow the candidates to use their content knowledge and practice the pedagogy addressed in the blocks (see Elementary Teacher Education Program Overview). Field Experience expectations are shared with the K-12 teachers and field experience handbooks provide a focus for the experiences (see E345 Handbook)

The school's expectations for the student teaching experiences are shared with the candidates and mentor teachers during a Student Teaching Orientation held just prior to the start of the first experience (see Student Teaching Orientation Elementary). At this meeting, all participants are given a Student Teaching Handbook to frame the experience. Candidates completing a dual special education program also receive a Special Education Handbook, as do their mentor teachers.

Both the Indianapolis and Columbus campuses have mentor-training programs approved by the Indiana Professional Standards Board. These programs train mentors for beginning teachers but many of the mentors also host student teachers for the unit. Mentor teacher also may attend a mentoring class offered during the summer that addresses the Principles of Teacher Education and the development of supervisory skills.

Mentor teachers complete a Midterm Goal Form and Final Evaluation for all candidates during student teaching. The school continues to pilot Benchmark III during student teaching and will fully implement it as a high-stakes assessment during the Fall 2004 semester. A Field Experience Evaluation Instrument in the pilot stage of development.

Advanced Programs: Master's candidates who are doing practicum work are placed and supervised by knowledgeable unit faculty who have expertise in the area of the teaching. They help students establish goals for their experiences and use those goals to assess the success of the candidates in their placements. Each of these individuals has been a teacher and advanced degrees. Each practicum is designed to meet the individual learning needs of the candidates as well as the need of the students in the school context.

Candidates work closely with faculty advisors who mentor them through the conceptualization of their projects and review the candidates' progress. Much of the mentoring takes place via e-mail and distance technology as candidates avail themselves of faculty expertise. It is also common to see a candidate in an advanced program setting discussing a project in the Education Commons with their faculty advisor.

The quality of the candidates' work in the field is most often evaluated through their written assignments and class presentations. The quality of sites for practicum placements is determined by the supervisors who visit the sites or by the candidates as they reflect on their own learning. In each case, the candidates are expected to consider multiple perspectives, to be critical thinkers, and to use the standards of their content field as criteria for making judgments.

Element Three: Candidates' Development and Demonstration of Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions to Help All Students Learn

Initial Programs: Helping all students learn is the focus of each teaching program that the school offers.

Prior to student teaching, candidates must demonstrate mastery of content areas and pedagogical and professional knowledge. Candidates must meet the following criteria prior to entering student teaching: (see Student Teaching Audit)

• Candidates must complete all education blocks with grades of "C" or higher
• All early field experiences must be satisfactorily completed
• All Benchmark must be passed
• Overall GPA must be 2.5 or higher
• Elementary candidates must have a GPA of 2.0 in their mathematics, social studies, language arts, and science content areas
• Secondary and all-grade candidates must have a GPA of 2.5 in their major

Candidates complete Benchmark III during student teaching. The school, in conjunction with Arts & Science faculty, assesses the portfolio in relationship to how well the candidates provide evidence of student learning both through the unit plan and student work. Candidate feedback on student work is also reviewed for accuracy and the likelihood that it will improve student work.

The Student Teaching Framework, used to assess candidates during student teaching, is aligned with the Principals of Teacher Education and the INTASC Standards (see INTASC Framework). The framework addresses the need for candidates to pursue inquiry that leads to better instruction and teaching and learning in the classroom.

Advanced Programs: Helping all students learn is the focus of each teaching program that the school offers.

The advanced programs are designed so that candidates apply what they are learning in their own classrooms. Projects and assignments provide opportunities for candidates to demonstrate the skills, knowledge and dispositions needed to help all students learn.

• In L504: Identifying and Working with Learners with Literacy Difficulties, candidates complete a child-watching case study. They choose a student who is struggling in some way with reading. After compiling data for this learner, they generate a description of this student as a reader. A diagnosis of any difficulties observed and justification for the candidate's conclusions must be included in the case study. The candidate then devises a curricular plan to support this student in becoming more literate.
• Candidates in Q517/M550: Methods of Teaching Science In Middle School conduct personal interviews with students to determine their reasoning abilities and understanding of specific science concepts. In addition, they must identify strategies that will help the students develop better understanding of the concepts that were the focus of the interviews. This assignment addresses propositions 1, 2, and 3 of the conceptual framework.