Sustaining a Rural School-University Partnership: A Twenty-Two Year Retrospective of an After-School Tutoring Program

Zeichner (2010) noted the importance of connecting university-based teacher preparation courses to field experiences within schools. This "nonhierarchical interplay" provides rich clinical experiences for teacher candidates as they enter the profession. Similarly, Dunn, DePalma, Kislow, and Burger (2013) also described a critical need for schooluniversity partnerships to develop clinically rich opportunities for teacher candidates. All of these authors found it necessary to connect theory to practice in education courses by linking the course to clinically-rich field experiences.No Child Left Behind (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (2004) have provided a national impetus requiring student achievement be reported for both students with and students without disabilities. Likewise, the National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education's (NCATE) Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships (2010) encouraged teacher educators to sustain meaningful partnerships for the purpose of documenting teacher candidates showing improved student learning in their instructional practices. According to NCATE, high quality field placements are an essential component of strong teacher education programs.On a state level, New York State schools are simultaneously implementing the Common Core Curriculum State Standards, Response-to-Intervention, and Race-to-the Top teacher evaluations, leaving little room for discussions on quality field placements for teacher candidates. There have been few investigations clearly informing the education field on how school-university partnerships can be successfully sustained for long periods in the midst of changing federal and state policies. The purpose of this investigation was to study the sustainability of one rural school-university partnership serving the needs of students in rural schools and providing clinically rich field experiences for teacher candidates.Rural ContextThe State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia is located in western New York, approximately 50 miles south of Buffalo, in rural Chautauqua County. This small rural university is part of the New York State higher education network. There are 5,000 undergraduate students, with approximately 20% of the student body majoring in education.SUNY Fredonia has a sustained history in undergraduate teacher preparation. The institution prepared only general education teachers at the elementary and secondary levels until 2007 when a dual certification program, with inclusion of special education, was established at the elementary level (grades 1-6 childhood and childhood with disabilities). The unique aspect of SUNY Fredonia's undergraduate teacher education program is that special education faculty members always have been included in teacher education curricula linking campus-based courses to field experiences in schools (Maheady, Harper, &. Mallette, 2005; Maheady, Jabot, Rey, &. Michielli-Pendl, 2007).The Childhood Inclusive Education Program (an extension of the original 1991 Childhood Education Program) at SUNY Fredonia is a merged undergraduate special and general education teacher preparation program addressing the needs of students with high incidence disabilities within the context of the general education curriculum (Blanton, Pugach, &. Florian, 2011). Approximately 74 dually certified teacher candidates graduate from this program each year. This approach to special education teacher training combines the expertise of special and general education faculty within a single academic program.Program DescriptionThe Childhood Inclusive Education program consists of five field experiences linked to specific courses. Upon graduation, teacher candidates have used research-based practices in multiple rural schools, providing preparation to work with a variety of students who have disabilities. Each field experience is linked to a specific course, and the assignments are designed to document P-8 student learning. …