Chapter 14: Utilizing a University–School Partnership to Improve the Academic Achievement of Middle School Students (Including Those with Special Needs) by Instituting School-Wide Co-Teaching

One of the purposes of professional development schools is to work collaboratively to conduct research on effective teaching practices. This study describes a collaborative inquiry among university faculty and educators from a rural middle school in the southeastern United States. Adams Middle School (AMS) is a partner school in a network associated with a midsized, southeastern land grant university. AMS is one of thirty schools across nine school districts engaging in a dynamic, diverse, and growing collaboration with multiple departments within the university. Goodlad (1984), in his book A Place Called School, suggested that in order to improve schools and the work of teachers, a relationship had to exist between institutes of public education and teacher preparation programs. Initiatives at AMS and throughout the network stem from Goodlad’s vision of shared responsibility for student achievement through clinically based teacher preparation and sustained collaborative professional learning (along with inquiry and research-based practice). Specifically, the network maintains a shared purpose in the simultaneous renewal of schools and educator preparation with a focus on P–12 student learning. This happens through the engagement of collaborative learning communities involving district and university students and faculty. Using this mission as our foundational cornerstone, partners collaborate to meet four specific goals: (1) improve P–12 student learning, (2) improve professional learning for district and university faculty and teacher candidates, (3) improve quality of teacher preparation, and (4) increase support for new teachers.