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In the fall of 2009, Judia Jackson Harris Elementary opened as a Professional Development School (PDS) and was the first PDS collaboration between the Clarke County School District (CCSD) and the University of Georgia College of Education.
CCSD and UGA designed four different PDS school models with varying levels of COE involvement.
Four schools are Model 4 schools, the most robust PDS model, which includes a COE Professor-in-Residence (PIR) on-site at the school for half-time. PIRs supervise student teachers, coordinate volunteer efforts and facilitate collaborative research and professional development activities at the school. Many of them also teach pre-service teacher education classes on-site. Model 4 schools include:
J. J. Harris Elementary School (hyperlink all schools to their websites OR to individual web pages with summaries of school activities)
Fowler Drive Elementary School
Clarke Middle School
Hilsman Middle School
Four schools are Model 3 schools, which includes COE On-Site Instructors who teach pre-service education courses on-site, supervise field placement students/student teachers on-site, and provide professional development to teachers and staff. These schools include:
Office of Early Learning (hyperlink all schools to their website OR to individual web pages with summaries of school activities)
Barrow Elementary School
Clarke Central High School
Athens Community Career Academy
Model 1 and Model 2 schools are in early stages of PDS development and benefit from Professional Development activities provided by a District-wide Professor-in-Residence and have the opportunity to contract with the COE for specific Professional Development activities.
The goals of the PDS are to improve and enhance student learning through:
innovative and intensive programs of teacher preparation,
professional development for teachers, and
collaborative programs of inquiry directed at the improvement of practice.
The goals of the PDS are achieved through:
a focus on providing additional resources to children and teachers in the school;
the meaningful and substantive integration of theory, research and practice;
an inquiry-based approach to learning at all levels of the educational process.