Portland Public Schools and USM Sign Partnership for Professional
Development
May 18, 2004
Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor will announce the signing
of the Partnership Compact for Professional Development at
the Wednesday, May 19, Portland School Committee business
meeting. The meeting will be held in Room 250 of the Portland
Arts and Technology High School on Allen Avenue, Portland.
"This Compact," says Dean Betty Lou Whitford of USM's College
of Education and Human Development, "extends our commitment
to the largest public school district in the state."
An outgrowth of the Strengthening and Sustaining Teachers
Project (SST), the Compact continues to develop ways to support
continuous teacher development, thereby enhancing the education
of students. The SST Project is grant-funded from 2000 to
2005 through the University of Washington. Portland Public
Schools and USM were invited to join schools in Albuquerque,
N.M., and Seattle, Washington, to develop programs that support
continuous professional learning for teachers.
The unique thing about the SST Project and the Compact for
Professional Development is that the Portland teachers' union,
the Portland Education Association, is an equal partner. The
compact brings together for the first time, the union representing
teachers, the university that prepares teachers for the classroom,
and the school district that provides teacher mentoring, support
and development programs. These three distinct groups together
hold the belief that "continuous, high quality professional
development for teachers is the key to high levels of student
learning."
Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor says of the Compact, "This
work allows us to break new ground on how we do our work with
USM and the Portland Education Association, becoming one entity
to stay focused on what happens for all kids in our classrooms."
>more news releases
|
