Chapter 10: Innovative Shared Master Teacher Model: The University of Maryland and a Local School District

In this chapter, we describe an innovation developed by Terrapin Teachers at the University of Maryland (UMD). The Shared Master Teacher (SMT) initiative brought high school teachers into the teacher preparation process in a way that permitted their roles in both schools and teacher preparation communities to be carried out simultaneously. While the Master Teacher model in UTeach implementation sites places significant value on classroom experience, the SMT model pushed further toward the integration of school experiences and teacher learning by maintaining legitimate participation and voice in both communities.

Shared Master Teachers are teacher leaders in their schools, which are the Professional Development Schools (PDS) in which the teacher preparation program collaborates. As we discuss in this chapter, SMT effectively bridged the gap between UMD and PDS through their current, intimate knowledge of school processes and cultures as well as their participation in decision making at the schools and the university. The teachers contribute to deepening and equalizing the relationships between the two communities. Additionally, it helps in practical terms for meeting concrete demands such as staffing multiple sections of Step 1.