Osborn Assistant Superintendent Extols Benefits
of Professional Development School to Congress
Jun. 19, 2006, PHOENIX - from Public Affairs at the ASU
West Campus
Patricia Tate testified at a Congressional hearing that Arizona State
University’s Pro fessional Development School (PDS) program improves
teacher retention, teacher quality and student achievement. Tate,
director of curriculum for the Osborn Elementary School District,
appeared before
Congress in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.,
June 15.
“The program is so powerful,” said Tate. “It is absolutely worth it to
the students and worth it to the teachers. Our partnership with ASU
through the PDS program has brought great research, statistics and
proper measurements.”
PDS was launched in 2000 by program director Scott Ridley, associate
professor in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership at ASU’s
West campus, and Joann Talazus, principal of Osborn’s Longview
Elementary School. The partnership resulted in Arizona’s first
full-service PDS and offered new teacher preparation and the resources
necessary to improve the Osborn School District’s instructional practice
and increase student achievement.
“Becoming a Professional Development School is not just a design
process,” said Ridley. “It is also a powerful collaborative process: a
constructive back-and-forth dialogue among the university, schools and
the community. The College of Teacher Education and Leadership took the
lead on this type of university-school partnership because ASU is
committed to working with community partners to provide the most
qualified teachers in the state and in the nation.”
PDS
partnerships are designed to strengthen the professional development of
new teachers entering the education field, engaging ASU faculty and
public school faculty into best practices in teaching and learning.
On-going performance research indicates that
PDS teachers are more effective, confident and stay in the profession
longer than teachers prepared in other types of programs.
“As
a high-poverty district, recruiting teachers of a high quality remains
our biggest challenge,” Tate said. “The improvement on both fronts is
directly related to the long-term partnership with ASU’s College of
Teacher Education and Leadership.”
The Osborn School District is located in the center of the greater
Phoenix region, a major employment zone that feature vibrant economic
development, the highest concentration of office space in the
metropolitan area and a regional light rail transit system scheduled to
open in late 2008.
The economic vitality of the Central Corridor is not reflected in the
status of Osborn students. Of the district’s nearly 4,000 students
(K-8), 87 percent live below the poverty level. Immigrant students from
40 countries make up 17 percent of the district’s total enrollment.
Fifty-one percent of the student body is limited English proficient.
Homeless students number 874.
“Our students come with great needs, but they also bring enrichment to
the district,” said Tate. “We need the extraordinary resources to bring
out the best in our students, and ASU is there for us through the PDS
program.”
In her briefing, Tate detailed several areas of improvement in student
achievement that were “directly related to the quality of (district)
teachers and (the) long-term, active partnership with the ASU’s College
of Teacher Education and Leadership.”
“The impact of the PDS program has not only increased our 7th-
and 8th-grade students’ test scores dramatically, it has also
sustained the increase over a five-year period,” said Tate, referring to
a study of scores from 2001 through 2005. “The improvement in scores and
academic achievement and the sustainability is directly attributable to
our partnership with ASU.”
Kelly
Grysho,
kelly.grysho@asu.edu
(602) 543-5209 |
