Chapter 6: From Professional Development to Project: A Professional Development School’s Partnership in Progress

Utilizing the resources of a U.S. Department of Education grant and a coalition of five universities and six school districts, a partnership between University of Houston–Downtown and Alief Independent School District created a field-based internship program for preservice teachers that demonstrated that such partnerships do not typically have to wait 5 years to impact teacher education and schooling in urban districts. This chapter specifically outlines three efforts of these partners in jointly planning and implementing a teacher preparation program that utilized integration of instruction, technology, and field experiences in maximizing the impact on preservice teachers and the school itself.