In order to improve student achievement, teacher improvement was identified as key to the Collaborative's systemic educational reform effort. And in 1993, the College of Education received a three-year grant from the state to become a Center for Professional Development and Technology. A new vision of what teacher preparation candidates should know and be able to do and the role technology could play became a part of the College's overall mission. Grant funds paid for staff development, as well as hardware and software for the College and the schools in which our students did their practice teaching. To fulfill our new mission, the College has had to change, and the schools where our students practice-teach have had to change, simultaneously.
All candidates entering teacher education are now prepared following a new model.
Partnerships are created with the schools in which pre-service teachers do their internships. All major stakeholders participate in planning and evaluating the teacher preparation program, including the teachers and school administrators. It was not easy to strengthen our collaborative partnerships and redefine the roles of university and public school faculties, but it was essential. Now our new teachers are prepared to enter schools that have themselves undergone change. I entered Mrs. Valencia's third grade classroom, I immediately saw Erika, Joaquin, and Brenda sitting at three computers with CD-ROMs.