The University of Memphis and the city’s K-12 schools have had a partnership in effect since 1992.
But local educational leaders are hoping to step up efforts that will mutually benefit the area’s educational infrastructure.
These partnerships are now even more important as one-third of Memphis schools were designated low-performing by the Tennessee Department of Education in September.
The partnerships benefit both K-12 schools and The U of M, according to Alfred Hall, the director of Memphis Urban Systemic Programs (MUSP).
Hall worked with several U of M administrators to develop a series of courses at The U of M’s College of Education for teachers in Memphis City Schools.
“We tried to come up with some programs that we could implement from which everyone could benefit, and we came up with the idea of starting a pilot program for new and non-tenured faculty in Memphis City Schools,” Hall said.
The first course, which started this semester, targets middle school math and science teachers, and is intended to provide them with the necessary tools and information to help them stay in the classroom beyond the critical three year period, Hall said.
“In some cases the courses will also double as courses for masters degree programs,” Hall said.
The U of M benefits from this partnership by generating more student enrollment and tuition dollars, while Memphis schools benefit by getting better prepared and trained teachers.
This pilot program is only the most recent development. The U of M’s College of Education has been actively involved in partnerships with schools throughout the Memphis area since 1992, according to Mary Hall, assistant dean of education.
The college has 13 professional development schools, which are schools that agree to a partnership relationship with The U of M. The U of M provides a faculty member to work closely with the school’s administrators, leadership, faculty and student teachers. The school agrees to take larger numbers of student teachers and host field experiences for students who want to experience the classroom early in their teacher education programs.
“It goes a little beyond just supervising, because our belief is that we are all partners in preparing future teachers,” Hall said. “We are actually working very closely with people out in the schools to decide what are the best things to do to help our students become the best teachers they can be.”
Only two of The U of M’s professional development schools were designated low-performing by the Tennessee Department of Education. This is impressive, considering 64 of the 98 schools on the list were Memphis schools. These two schools had problems with teacher turnover and changes in leaderships, according to Hall.
One possible explanation for why these professional development schools were not low-performing may be because of the extra help they receive from The U of M, Hall said. She is involved in some research with the National Education Association which is attempting to prove that this was the case.
“We’re going to try to show that having extra hands in the classroom and having more adults working with students does make a difference and increases student learning,” Hall said.
Currently, Hall added, there are seven schools that have expres-sed interest in becoming professional development schools. The only problem is resources; the school doesn’t have enough faculty to develop the quality partnership that it requires.
“Part of why (professional development schools) work so well is that you have a faculty member who builds a relationship of trust with those schools,” Hall said.
Though the school could have one faculty member supervise numerous school, it would risk ‘diluting’ the program, Hall said.
One recently developed partnership is the elementary licensing program (K-8), which is a professional semester in the classroom before the student teaching semester, according to Hall. Students in this program are placed in the college’s professional development schools to learn methods for teaching math, science, social studies and reading. Hall said students are placed in the same professional development school for elementary licensing and student teaching.
“So we’re helping our people have a continuous experience by being in the same school,” Hall said. “They are able to develop relationships with teachers and with elementary students, and that’s what is neat about it.”
