Baylor School of Education doctoral candidate Kurt Salisbury, MSEd ’03, won the Emerging PDS Leader Award from the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) at the annual convention in February.
The award recognizes a student member of NAPDS who shows promising leadership in the PDS movement. Criteria for the award includes service to NAPDS, presentations at the annual conference, publications, and service to a PDS program.
Salisbury is a full-time doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and also a math instructional specialist at Midway Middle School, which is a PDS campus of the Baylor School of Education. Salisbury was a high school mathematics teacher for 12 years and spent two years as an assistant principal in Midway ISD. He earned a master’s at Baylor and his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Texas A&M.
NAPDS supports genuine collaborative, field-based, rich partnerships between P12 schools and colleges and universities. NAPDS was founded in 2005, growing out of an already-established national annual gathering of P12 educators and university representatives. The membership of the organization represents equally the public-school partners along with the higher-education partners.
Salisbury has been involved in NAPDS for several years, serving on the communications committee and giving academic presentations at the annual conference several times.
He said he appreciates the professional development opportunities offered by NAPDS.
“It’s an opportunity to collaborate with other educators throughout the country and see what others are doing and learn ways to support Baylor and Midway ISD,” he said. “One thing I have learned is that the Baylor program is one of the best in the nation, and we do a lot of things well.”
The Emerging Leader Award requires nomination and support from NAPDS members, and Salisbury received his from Dr. Lorri Sapp, coordinator of secondary mathematics and instructional coaching at Midway ISD, and Dr. Rachelle Rogers, Baylor clinical associate professor in the School of Education and the University Liaison to Midway Middle school during Salisbury’s tenure there.
Rogers said that Salisbury provided significant contributions to Baylor’s PDS program through his role as an assistant principal at Midway Middle PDS, leading professional development sessions for the Baylor juniors and seniors who are teaching on the campus. While a teacher in Midway, Salisbury also served as a mentor teacher, hosting Baylor student teachers in his classroom.
“Mr. Salisbury is passionate about PDS work,” Rogers said, noting that his presentations at NAPDS reflect this, encompassing topics such as how PDS work impacts a middle school campus, supporting teacher candidates in maker’s spaces, collaborating in a mathematics classroom, and the impact of action research.
“Mr. Salisbury is an exemplary educator and emerging PDS leader who is very deserving of this recognition,” she said. “He portrays effective leadership and contribution to the PDS academic community through his service to others.”
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