UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Deeply invested in supporting the educational needs of children in the State College Area School District and teacher candidates from Penn State’s College of Education, the Professional Development School program that links the two has been recognized with the Exemplary PDS Achievement Award.
The National Association of Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) presented the award at its March conference in Jacksonville, Florida, to the College’s Elementary and Early Childhood (PK-4) teacher education program. The PDS partnership was cited for its commitment to a culture of inquiry as well as its leadership and movement nationally.
The collaboration between Penn State’s College of Education and the State College Area School District is now in its 20th year. NAPDS is a national organization that supports and advances school-university collaboration and is based in Waco, Texas.
“Recognition with this award comes at a very exciting time for the partnership as we approach a 20-year milestone in our history,” said MJ Kitt, the College’s PDS elementary coordinator and former State College teacher and administrator.
“We also received the award in 2009 and since then our community has continued to grow and find new ways to support the learning of children and teachers."
To qualify for this award, the partnership submitted a 20-page narrative describing the strengths of the partnership as they relate to the guiding principles of NAPDS.
Penn State faculty members Gwen Lloyd, Rachel Wolkenhauer and Kitt guided the writing process and incorporated the contributions of a wide range of PDS community members from State College schools and Penn State, including 19 former interns, mentor teachers, supervisors, methods instructors, principals, administrators and board members.