Chapter 3: Supporting Middle Level Students, Teacher Candidates, and Teachers through Forming Professional Developmental School Partnerships

Professional development schools (PDSs) are mutually beneficial school-university partnerships with the goals of supporting the development of teacher candidates, improving K–12 teaching and learning, and providing professional development opportunities for experienced teachers. The middle childhood program at Ohio University has found that transitioning to a PDS model has helped to strengthen our teacher education program while also supporting local schools. In this chapter we discuss the evolution of the middle childhood education PDS partnership at Ohio University. The chapter highlights how the PDS partnership was developed, the unique structures of the partnership, the challenges that come with starting a partnership, and concludes with suggestions for other middle childhood programs that are interested in starting a PDS partnership.