Learning by teaching

In southern Delaware, an innovative partnership between a public school district and CHEP's School of Education is producing teachers who have a strong theoretical background and extensive practical experience.

The Southern Delaware Professional Development School (PDS), made possible by a partnership between CHEP and the Milford School District, is located on the grounds of the district's Lulu M. Ross Elementary School. University students enrolled in the program take their junior and senior year education courses at the elementary school and are able to immediately implement what they have learned by interning and student teaching in its classrooms. The community-based program is modeled on the medical education system, in which students receive both theoretical and hands-on professional training in teaching hospitals.

"Students in the PDS program spend much more time in school classrooms than is typical of most teacher education programs," says Judy Warrington, principal of Ross Elementary. "The PDS program has created an environment of ongoing learning at all levels throughout the school."

Program director Laurie Palmer, CHEP '88, '94MI, says the University students also benefit from "being part of a school and learning community each day." Before they even graduate, she says, "they have lived the life of a teacher."

The program prepares students for certification in both elementary education and elementary special education, in kindergarten through eighth grade. Each University student who enrolls in the program is placed regularly in an elementary or middle school classroom within the district.

Juniors, called interns, start the program on the first in-service day of the school district's academic year in August, when they are assigned to work with a teacher. For the rest of the school year, they spend two full days in the field each week, logging about 500 hours by June. Seniors, who are placed in middle schools in the fall and primary schools in the spring, teach a total of 129 days.

"This is significantly greater than time spent in the field in traditional programs, and it's one of the big attractions for our students," Palmer says. "There is a strong connection between the theoretical and the practical."

The integration of coursework and student teaching, she adds, allows students to "learn, practice and then learn again."

Currently, 12 seniors and 15 juniors are enrolled in the two-year program. Each group has a mix of traditional students in their late teens and early 20s and returning adult students who are pursuing second careers, and each group stays together through
a series of courses.

The program has become so popular that next fall, for the first time, more students are expected to apply than the program can accommodate. As a result, enrollment will be competitive.

Students in the program speak highly of both the teaching experience they get in the classroom and also the opportunity to interact with working professionals.

"It's the real world," says Diana Slater, CHEP 2003, who is student teaching in fifth grade. "There's so much you can't learn from a book, so many things people can share from their experiences. This program is hands-on, and it's great."

Melanie Chesonis, CHEP 2003, says she was anxious about starting the program but has found it to be a wonderful experience. "I feel as if I've stopped being a student and become a teacher," she says.

Now in its third year, the program draws students from throughout southern Delaware. Everyone in the first graduating class is gainfully employed as a classroom teacher. All were hired within weeks of their May 2002 graduation.

One of those is Wendy Sammons, CHEP 2002, who is teaching fourth grade at Ross Elementary. She says she benefited from the PDS program's small class size and one-on-one instruction.

"Everyone is very friendly in the classrooms, the schools and the community," Sammons says. "It was a wonderful experience."

--Beth Thomas