Abstract:

Academic-City is a vanguard three-year project based on a cooperation between a college of education and a development city with the support and financial backing of the Ministry of Education. The aim of the cooperation is to improve the quality of education in the city as well as to provide a meaningful practical experience to B.Ed and M.Ed students. Included in the goals of the cooperation are: raising student achievement, bridging formal and informal educational frameworks, improving the school climate and introducing innovation and entrepreneurism to teachers and students. 120 students along with their pedagogical supervisors practice their teaching with pupils, teachers and families within the formal and informal education system from early childhood through high school three days a week or one day depending on the training model they are enrolled in. Participating schools include 5 primary schools, one junior high school, and one high school. This is the first time that a municipal formal or informal educational system, the ministry of Education has ever directly joined forces with an academic institution to elevate the level of education with a future intention to replicate this model nationwide.
Parallel to the entry of students into the different educational settings in the city, teachers and principals received professional development in areas they chose based on their individual needs and preferences.

The aim of the present study is to examine the impact the project had on the city’s educational system and the college participants during its first year.

The theoretical framework for the study is based on 'education for meaning', a comprehensive educational concept which is focused on three essential educational purposes and dimensions of school activity – pedagogy, curriculum, and the organization of knowledge as well as on the professional development school (PDS) model.

In the first year of the project the following categories were examined: The contribution of the program to the schools; the use of innovative teaching methods, the use of alternative assessment, ways of addressing diversity in the classroom, the use of technology in teaching, and the change in the social – educational atmosphere through the perceptions of the teachers, students, principals and pupils.

Data collection tools included questionnaires which were distributed to students, principals, and instructors. Interviews were conducted with students, principals, and instructors. Additionally, field notes were collected from protocols of staff meetings, summaries of meetings of students and pedagogical instructors at the beginning and end of the year.

Data were analyzed using a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative design.

Preliminary results indicate greater use of creative, innovative teaching methods for the heterogeneous class, use of alternative assessment methods and increase of positive climate in the classrooms.

The contribution of this research is its impact on the education system of the city as a whole, applying principles of ‘education for meaning' in school's educational visions and in learning performances and the realization of the importance and necessity for cooperation between academia and city for the advancement of education in a city.

Keywords:

Teacher training, pre-service.