1. Partnership in Education
Placing Teacher Candidates in the Urban School
Kathie Carwile Morgan, ED.D.
Liberty University
Pi Lambda Theta 2007 Leadership Conference
Energy Through Synergy
July 25-28, 2007
Richmond, VA

2. The First Partnership School
WILLIAM MARVIN
BASS
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL

3. The Best Principal in Virginia
Mr. Laverne Marshall
Principal
Bass Elementary School

4. The Teacher Candidates

5. The University Population
Residential Student Enrollment
Fall 2007 – 10,500 
Ethnicity on Campus
African American 10%
American Indian 1 %
Asian 3%
Hispanic3%
White79%
Not Listed4%
States Represented 50 
Countries Represented 72
Top 4 (other than USA)
Canada, Korea, Kenya, Brazil

6. The Need
Although the university represents broad ethnicity, the students entering teacher education come from non-diverse backgrounds. In an effort to prepare our candidates we want them to be exposed to the urban environment and not to fear it.

7. The Mission
Liberty University has established a “Partnership in Education” with city schools placing sophomore and junior level teacher candidates in the urban school environment to introduce and encourage entry level teachers to consider the inner-city as a teaching option and prepare them for teaching children of diversity.

9. Teacher Candidates interact with faculty and students

10. Practicum Objectives:
Allow pre-service teachers to experience the urban elementary classroom.
Develop habits of professionalism.
Experience designing and teaching one reading lesson that incorporates language-arts instruction and addresses English and a content area SOL.

11. The Teacher Candidate Is Required To:
Observe
Aid the Classroom teacher
Develop a professional relationship with students, classroom teacher, school administration, & staff
Design a lesson that addresses the VA SOLs for English and, where appropriate, a content area SOL and meets the NCATE standards

12. Further Objectives Teach at least one lesson
Evaluate and Assess Performance
Classroom Student’s Learning
Personal Performance
Maintain, and Submit a signed Final
log of hours and self-evaluation
Collect, and Submit the Classroom
Teacher’s Final Evaluation

13. What does the Classroom Teacher Do?
Provide a welcoming environment.
Answer questions
Allow the Teacher Candidate to assist:
Working with small groups
Grading papers
Supervision of students
Teaching the lesson prepared

14. The Classroom Teacher will…
Assign an English Standard of Learning
for the lesson to be prepared and
taught at the end of the placement.
Preferably one that addresses the
Put Reading First initiative.
Reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary or fluency.
Assign a specific time for teaching the lesson.

15. The Classroom teacher will…
Evaluate the teacher candidate’s lesson.
Complete the Evaluation:
Sign log of hours and evaluation
Give log and evaluation to the Student Teacher at the last visit, in order for the final grade to be assigned.

16. Findings Teacher candidates: Lose their fear of the urban environment
Unreservedly praise the schools
Develop a compassion and love for minority children
Decide that they could teach in the city schools.

17. Further benefits
The school system asks for the teacher candidates to return.
Has on occasion hired before student teaching.
Hiring in the urban schools from the graduates has increased.
A strong alliance has developed between the
university and the local school system.

18. And that’s it!