(Above) The University of Evansville School of Education recognizes the vital importance of K-12 Partners in highly effective educator preparation. Alison Jones, Assistant Professor, School of...

Donna Linderman M.ED., PDS Site Coordinator Spring Valley Elementary, Midway ISD, Waco, TX Melissa Cates MS. ED, University Liaison, Baylor University, Waco, TX Teaching Associates from Spring...

(Above:  Students exploring nature and science during the Exceptional Science Fair.) Kalynn Hall Pistorio, Associate Professor of Special Education/ Program Coordinator, Columbus State University ...

My colleagues and I had a compelling thought we deemed was worth exploring, “What exactly happens in a PDS room and how can it help future educators?”

The computer screen flashed “incoming call” at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 10. It was time for university faculty and the lab school to plan for fall 2020.

With the recent stress and demands placed on public schools as a result of the pandemic, an opportunity has emerged for Educator Preparation Programs to reimagine and redefine clinical experiences to include museums.

For the past two years, professors Tricia Strickland and Kristine Calo have worked with local schools to support teacher candidates as they provide specially designed instruction (SDI) to students with disabilities.

In our experience, a collaborative PDS partnership begins with a PD goal in which the complementary expertise of the partners in P-12 school and higher education are united. In the PD collaboration described in this paper, the underlying PD goal was focused upon exploring ways for all middle grades learners to participate during their mathematics classroom experience.

Around the country school districts are facing shortages of math and science teachers (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2017). In the Norfolk Public Schools-Old Dominion University partnership, we decided to utilize the assets that existed in our own schools and university to address the shortage in our region. This effort is called STEMPower.

Scientists use models to represent phenomena and communicate information about the world. Elementary students can engage in the same process of scientific modeling when provided appropriate structure, context, and practice.