Ball State's Professional Development Schools (PDS) Network has earned national honors for helping Rhoades Elementary School in Indianapolis go from failing to blue ribbon in just four years.

"The Nancy Zimpher Award for Best Partnership is the highest award given by this national organization," said Ruth Swetnam, coordinator of the PDS Network, of the honor from the Holmes Partnership. "They honored our work that helped Rhoades Elementary go from being one of the first schools in Indiana to be identified through No Child Left Behind as a failing school to one of the recipients of the national 2005 NCLB Blue Ribbon Schools Award."

Ball State's Teachers College has worked closely with the school's teachers and administrators to offer more professional development opportunities, create literacy and writing programs, and integrate technology into the school's teaching and learning. The partnership resulted in student achievement scores doubling and the school participating in a sizeable grant for technology to supplement its reading and math literacy programs.

During Rhoades' partnership with Ball State, the school's passing rate on ISTEP went from just 39 percent in 2001-02 to 81 percent in 2004-05. School officials praised the partnership with Ball State, which was formed in 2001, and the establishment of weekly assessments that identified struggling students more quickly as keys to the school's dramatic turnaround.

Ball State has also benefited from the partnership in many ways. Teachers at Rhoades have mentored 102 student teachers, and the corporation has hired 25 of those teacher candidates, including five who currently teach at Rhoades, Swetnam said.

Ball State's PDS Network includes 23 schools, but no two partners are alike. Each partner works with the university to develop initiatives suited to the school with the overall aim of professional growth through the simultaneous improvement of both schools and teacher education.

Representatives from Teachers College and Rhoades Elementary will travel to Chicago Feb. 25 to receive the award from the Holmes Partnership, anetwork of universities, schools, community agencies and national professional organizations working in partnership to create high-quality professional development and significant school renewal to improve teaching and learning for all children.

 

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Swetnam at (765) 285-5252 or rswetnam@bsu.edu.)