Abstract:

Located in greater metropolitan Los Angeles, and in partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), California State University Dominguez Hill (CSUDH) offers a non-traditional innovative teacher education program known as the “Transition-To-Teaching” (TTT) Lab School Initiative. Building on the Darling-Hammond’s (2001) driving principles of professional develop schools and teacher preparation this session’s objective is to present an innovative partnership initiative that addresses the need to prepare middle and high school math and science teachers. Because candidates enrolled in the program are teaching in urban schools with multicultural and multilingual students, coursework and field experiences are designed to address English learners and diverse learning styles. High needs schools are schools with relatively large concentrations of high need students, a high teacher turnover rate, and a shortage of certified, experienced teachers, especially math and science.

Presenters will share key findings from the first three years of the initiative’s implementation. TTT Lab Schools provide a number of resources and support systems for intern candidates at CSUDH, their school site, and beyond. At CSUDH, a program director and coordinator oversee the progress of the interns. CSUDH faculty work to instruct as well as supervise the interns. Though there are numerous resources and supports for TTT interns on the CSUDH campus, the designers of TTT understand that supports and scaffolds need to reach beyond CSUDH. TTT developers understand that creating safe spaces for teachers to refine their practice and improve instruction are critical to their development. It is with this in mind that the lab school partnership was created. As a result of the powerful partnership between the district and the university the lab schools have provided candidates with relevant and practical clinical experiences aligned with their coursework to help them develop into effective teachers. They have offered candidates opportunities to learn from model/master teachers through increased collaboration and relationship building; intensive training has shifted the focus from coursework to the clinical experience where learning together is a focus; the impact on students and teacher candidates is evident in the lead teachers’ assessment of the students and candidates development, and; the impact extends beyond the classroom walls to affect the parents, other teachers, staff, administrators, the school, and teaching and learning at other schools where candidates are currently teaching.

Time will be allocated towards the end of this session to sufficiently encourage audience participation and discussion.

Keywords:

Teaching, Collaboration Partnership, Relationship Building, Families, Parents.