This piece is a message from the NAPDS/NASUP president to the current and prospective members of the organization.
Due to the subject of the piece, no research methods were necessary.
Due to the subject of the piece, there are no findings.
This piece highlights the organization's new name.
This is an exciting time full of new opportunities for school–university partnerships and the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS), and we are meeting this moment with a new name and updated strategic plan. During the past few years, we have used a collaborative model to invite all members and conference attendees to explore whether a more inclusive name would better represent the work of the NAPDS. Reaching consensus that a new name was needed, the membership voted on the submitted suggestions, and we will celebrate our new name, National Association for School–University Partnerships (NASUP), at the March 2024 conference in Anaheim, California. If you have not already, please consider attending.
Just as Shakespeare suggested a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, the essence of our organization endures. No matter the name, we are committed to different forms and approaches to school–university partnerships in teacher education, working collaboratively between boundary-spanning roles and focusing on underrepresented groups. We look forward to working with the new and current members to uphold the following vision, mission and general goals in our scholarship and practice.
Vision statement
NAPDS (NASUP) is the leading organization that supports and advocates university partnerships.
Mission statement
NAPDS (NASUP) advances the education profession by providing leadership, advocacy, and support to create and sustain school–university partnerships such as professional development schools to function as learning communities to improve student learning, prepare educators through clinical practice, engage in reciprocal professional learning, and conduct shared inquiry.
Our goals focus on casting a wider net to include a variety of school–university partnerships, offer a diverse set of professional development opportunities, be a leading presence in school–university partnerships and teacher education as we partner with other organizations and continue to value diversity. What do these aspirations mean for the journal, PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice? We hope our readership and submissions will expand to interesting venues of partnership work while still honoring the field of professional development school research. This journal offers opportunities for authors from K–12 and university partners to publish their work in a collaborative way by co-authoring position pieces and research including forms of practitioner research.
As an editorial item, this article has not been subject to double-anonymized peer review.
