Vision

NASUP is the leading organization that supports and advocates for exemplary school-university partnerships.

Mission

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.

NASUP Logo

The red, white, and blue color scheme signifies the national reach of NASUP, with the letters SUP in red for emphasis. The two overlapping squares signify school-university partnerships and the third space that such partnerships create through ongoing collaborations. 

History

The Professional Development School (PDS) movement was initially supported by the Holmes Partnership (Holmes Group), but as their attentions were drawn to other endeavors, those involved in PDS work looked to create an environment that supported the vision of universities and PK-12 schools working together mutually.   This led to the gathering of like-minded committed PDS professionals, initially at a small conference held by the University of South Carolina in 2002.  The national organization, NAPDS (National Association for Profressional Development Schools), was subsequently created in 2005.

In annual conferences for the next 18 years, participants flooded in from around the country seeking support, guidance and confirmation of their work and beliefs.  The annual conferences were heralded as events that uniquely provided (1) a near-equal balance of university and PK-12 educators and (2) an exclusive focus on issues relevant to Professional Development Schools. Nowhere else, participants noted, did they find the opportunity to share ideas with such a wide breadth of P-20 educators and have the opportunity to focus solely on PDS concerns unencumbered by other admittedly important, yet non-PDS specific, educational issues.  As the movement grew nationwide, conferences, once an east coast phenomena, began rotating around the country to draw from the expertise of PDS professionals nationwide.

In 2023, the membership voted to expand its vision to include other school-university partnerships.  The membership approved a name change for the organization, now known as the National Association for School-Univeristy Partnerships (NASUP).