School and community partnerships are critical to AFTSE candidates acquiring the proficiencies necessary to be educators who consistently teach and lead to improve student learning. The unit engages in a variety of collaborative relationships with professional educators and P-12 schools to design, implement, and evaluate field and clinical practice. The Advisory Committee on Education (ACE), comprised of unit graduates, Arts and Sciences faculty, teachers, school administrators and district leaders, and community partners, meets once each semester to review programs and unit data, suggest improvements to practices, and provide feedback on new initiatives (Exhibit 3.3.a.2). Additionally, the unit has had a formal partnership (since 2009) with Breckinridge-Franklin Elementary School, which houses a communications magnet program in the Jefferson County Public Schools (Exhibit 3.3.a.3). This partnership has experienced challenges over the last three years, with changes in the school's leadership as well as changes in the AFTSE's unit leadership, but has recently reaffirmed its collaboration with the AFTSE, working together to improve reading and mathematics skills. Collaboration and partnerships are focal points in the re-designed EdS in Instructional Leadership and School Administration (EdS) program and the Master of Arts in Education in Teacher Leadership (MAED) program, as both have relied on co-design, collaborative feedback, and implementation in partnership with P-12 schools and surrounding districts (Exhibit 3.3.a.4). The unit has formal memoranda of agreement with several surrounding school districts (Jefferson County, Oldham County, Bullitt County, Eminence Independent, and the Archdiocese of Louisville) to provide field experiences and mentoring for both the EdS and MAED programs (Exhibit 1.3.a.13, pp. 200-205; Exhibit 1.3.a.14, pp. 406-413). More informal partnerships for diverse field and clinical experiences exist with: 1) Nativity Academy and Canaan Church for assessment and tutoring of P-12 students (MAED and Rank I candidates); 2) Volunteers of America Family Emergency Shelter for educational activities, assessments and tutoring (MAT candidates); and 3) agency and alternative schools such as Newcomer Academy for ESL students and Maryhurst for residential care of females with severe emotional and behavior disorders (initial certification candidates) (Exhibit 3.3.a.5). Candidates in the EdS program have an extensive field experience component that centers on a professional learning community model comprised of university personnel, the aspiring leader candidate, and the building mentor (Exhibit 3.3.e.4). This partnership is essential for the development of the candidate in an authentic setting, the completion of anchor assessments in the field, and evaluation of candidate performance.
Exhibits
1.3.a.13 Master of Arts in Education in Teacher Leadership
1.3.a.14 EdS Instructional Leadership and School Admin Program Review Documents
3.3.a.2 Advisory Committee Education Minutes
3.3.a.3 Description of Breckinridge Partnership and Documentation
3.3.a.4 Collaborator Lists for EdS and MAED in Teacher Leadership
3.3.a.5 Non-Traditional Field and Clinical Placement Partners
3.3.e.4 EdS in Instructional Leadership Candidate Handbook