The Baylor School of Education was well represented at the recent conference for the National Association of Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) in Atlanta. Several Baylor SOE faculty members gave presentations, as did Baylor SOE students and representatives from the local Baylor Professional Development School (PDS) campuses.

A PDS is an innovative institution formed through the partnership of a professional education program, in this case Baylor SOE, and a local school. They are learning environments that support teacher-candidate and faculty development within the context of meeting all children’s needs. The mission of a PDS is professional preparation of candidates, faculty development, inquiry directed at the improvement of practice and enhanced student learning. Baylor SOE has nine PDS campuses in Waco ISD and Midway ISD.

Here’s a rundown of Baylor SOE presentations at NAPDS March 5-8:

“Partnerships in 1:1 Technology Initiative Districts: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Use Instructional Technology”
Leanne Howell and Barbara Purdum-Cassidy, Baylor SOE
Brent Merritt, Jay Fischer, Paula Gardner and Kathleen Minshew, Midway ISD
This interactive presentation detailed a PDS research study at PDS Spring Valley Elementary that provided pre-service teaching candidates with weekly professional development, with the ultimate goal of seamlessly integrating the use of instructional technology in the K-4 classrooms in which they teach.

“PDS At Its Best: Ongoing and Reciprocal Professional Development”
Barbara Bowden and Herb Cox, Midway Middle School
Rachelle Rogers, Baylor SOE
Researchers reported on a partnership for professional development based on research-based instructional strategies, implemented at PDS partner Midway Middle School.

“Equity in Diversity: Comparing Field Work in Texas and Australia”
Sheila Gloer, Betty Ruth Baker, Sydney Key, Kelsey Lowe, Rebecca McHenney and Carley Redfield, Baylor SOE
Professors and students who spent a month student-teaching in Australia compared the experience of the teacher candidates, using the written reflections of the students during the Australia experience and reflections from their experience in Waco-area schools.

“Bears and Eagles: Unlikely Successful Partners”
Dora Almaguer, Cesar Chavez Middle School
Leanne Brannon and Pat Sharp, Baylor SOE
Freshman education majors from Baylor SOE tutor in an urban middle school with a 94 percent minority and 98 percent economically disadvantaged population. Incredible benefits emerge for both groups. Presenters discussed longitudinal data and positive impact.

“Baylor University and Midway Independent School District’s Journey to Find the Perfect Professional Development School”
Krystal Goree and Leanne Howell, Baylor SOE
Brent Merritt, Herb Cox, Jay Fischer and Mandy Vasek, Midway ISD
Baylor and Midway presenters shared the extensive requirements to become a Baylor PDS and the three-step application process to determine which campuses will flourish in a PDS environment while providing a good clinical setting for teacher candidates.

“Interactions with Equity at Bell’s Hill Elementary PDS”
Bevil Cohn and Victoria Ward, Bell’s Hill Elementary School
Richard Strot, Baylor SOE
Presenters shared insights about the teamwork and practices that provide a model for understanding equity as a change agent at a Title One school that has been a PDS campus for more than a decade.

“Co-Teaching: Equity in the PDS Classrooms”
Herb Cox and Barbara Bowden, Midway Middle School
Lisa Osborne, Midway High School
Rachelle Rogers and Madelon McCall, Baylor SOE
Co-teaching can be defined in many ways, but at these PDS campuses, co-teaching is defined as two teachers — the mentor teacher and the teacher candidate — working together with groups of students and sharing in the planning, organization and delivery of instruction, as well as the assessment of student understanding.

“Working It Out Together”
Agnes Tang, Texas A&M University-Central Texas (Baylor SOE graduate: MSEd ’09, PhD ’13)
The presentation demonstrated the use of reflection analysis and outlined the steps to facilitate a partnership to improve the connection of theory to practice for teacher candidates.

“Collaborative Research: Do iPads Make a Difference in the Classroom?”
Rachelle Rogers, Baylor SOE
Barbara Bowden, Herb Cox, Steve Seale and John Choins, Midway Middle School
This presentation chronicled how two PDS campus teachers conducted their own action research projects to study the use of iPads in the classroom and how iPads can change the learning experience.