Chapter 3: Sustaining School Reform At Hunter Elementary: The Role Of University-School Partnerships

This chapter extends the findings of the case report in Chapter 2 by (1) elaborating the key and collaborative role of the university Professional Development School partnership in the success of Hunter Elementary, and by (2) basing the continued success of the school on a constantly refreshed culture that invites strong participation by university faculty and pre-service interns. School and university educators participate in collaborative staff development, and the school hires new teachers from the PDS program who are already inducted into the ways of the school and who have emerging identities as “success cycle” teachers. In addition, the cornerstone of school success, its guided reading program, operates on a tripartite diagnostic model of instruction that includes problem-driven instruction, judgment-focused teaching, and practice-based learning for students, teachers, and pre-service interns.