SUMMARY

Ball State University PDS Network Advisory Council
Institute Meeting #16
December 1, 2004
9:00 –12:30
Minnetrista

Ruth Swetnam welcomed the 81 members and guests, including Dr. Judy Miller, Director of the Office of Teacher Education Services, and Patty Northcutt, Coordinator of Outreach Marketing for Electronic Field Trips. She asked that someone at each table introduce anyone new to the PDS Network. Ruth also apologized for Dean Weaver's absence. This meeting was not on his calendar. Larry Smith could not attend because of illness.

Ruth explained the planning process for the Institute meeting and the format for the morning. She took all of the suggestions gathered during her visits to the PDSs to a meeting of representatives from each stakeholder group. They designed the agenda and organization of this meeting. She thanked Susan Atherton, Pat Clark, Mary Ann Flanary, Barb Lumbis, Cynthia Marquell and Claudia McVicker for their participation in this process. She thanked Claudia McVicker for the holiday table tents and Minnetrista for hosting the meeting.

There are currently 24 PDSs. The membership is the same as 2003-04, but the number is reduced by one due to Gaston and Harrison elementary schools merging to create the new Wes-Del Elementary School.

Tracy Shafer, representing the Network Executive Committee, recommended approval of the PDS proposal from Apple Tree Child Development Center. The Institute representatives voted to accept Apple Tree as the new PDS.

Ruth announced that Muncie Central High School hosted a site review team in October. The visiting team learned about positive initiatives that have resulted from the partnership; Central representatives will be sharing these during the tabletop discussions. The site review of Rhoades Elementary School will take place in March.

Claudia McVicker is excited about the Professor Garfield Web site that is about to be launched. This is a free educational Web site for kids, teachers, and parents. Claudia, the Professor Garfield Steering Committee, Jim Davis and his PAWS staff, and others working on the project, are seeking feedback from third and fourth graders about the Web site before it is launched. Claudia is seeking teachers who would be interested in having their students go to the Web site and provide feedback for the project. She can be contacted at cjmcvicker@bsu.edu. She will take them a language arts lesson plan and feedback booklets that allow the students to use this opportunity to integrate reading and writing standards while offering their comments and reactions about the site and its learning games. Participating children will receive Professor Garfield bookmarks! Participating teachers will receive a copy of The New Merriam-Webster and Garfield Dictionary for their classrooms.

Patty Northcutt demonstrated the Web site for Electronic Field Trips, (www.bsu.edu/eft). She reviewed the new discussion forum, the curriculum materials, the interactive lessons, and the registration process, in addition to answering individual questions. She also described the participation of teachers and students from Muncie Central in the Capitol Hill field during spring 2004. Cynthia Whitehair and a student from Cowan Elementary School were involved in the Grand Canyon field trip in November. Mitchell Elementary School will have a part in a field trip in spring 2005.

Following the Electronic Field Trip presentation, everyone was given the opportunity to select from eleven topics for small group discussion. The topics and facilitators were:

Opportunities for Graduate Work (Pat Clark)
Character Education (Roy Connor)
Mentoring New Teachers (Susan Atherton)
National Board Certification for Teachers (Shirley Thacker)
Kids of Character (Jean Ann Clevenger)
Help Us Help You! (Tim Gaddie and Melissa Venable)
Closing the Gap in Minority/White Student Achievement (Alba Rosenman/DiLynn Phelps)
Student Teacher Handbooks (Kristy Nacrelli/Laura Kingsley)
Role Alike – Adjunct Faculty (Cynthia Marquell)
Role Alike - Administrators (Mable Lewis/Ingrid Grubb)

Judy Miller spoke to the group about Indiana's Definition of Highly Qualified Teachers, which, in general, is a teacher with full certification, a bachelor's degree, and the demonstrated competence in subject knowledge and teaching skills. She also reviewed the new professional growth option for license renewal.

Teachers College is currently working to develop partnership schools in which cohorts of BSU teacher candidates can practice teach. These would not be PDSs. The primary focus would be student teaching. There have been conversations about partnership schools with Wayne Township, Anderson Community Schools, Mt.Vernon School Corporation, and Washington Township, and Fort Wayne Community Schools. A meeting is scheduled with New Castle.

Judy's presentation was followed by another set of topics for small group discussion. The topics and facilitators were:

Office of Teacher Education Services (Judy Miller)
Best Practices for PDSs (Barb Lumbis and Karen DeLeVergne)
Help Us Help You! (Jeanette Booth)
Improving Reading Through Real World Experiences (Claudia McVicker)
Mentoring New Teachers (Karen Dowling/Molly Johnson)
Best Practices for PDSs (Mary Ann Flanary)
Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center (Ann Leitze)
Dealing With Difficult Personnel Issues (Chris Landon)
Role Alike—Adjunct Faculty (Lesley Shaeffer/Dave Tuttle)
A Framework for the Analysis of Collaborative Inquiry in Secondary PDS Sites (Alba Rosenman/Barbara Graham)

Each table was assigned one of the NCATE standards. They read the rubrics and identified evidence that each element is being addressed. The second task was to make recommendations for improvement. The suggestions included the following:

• Increase participation of the departments of physical education, music and special education in the PDS Network.
• Give PDS special education teachers priority in the placement of student teachers.
• Do a better job of reporting to the community why professional development is important.
• Provide results of staff development to community and school boards to educate and inform them about the importance of providing time for teachers to improve and learn.
• Improve communication with the community.
• Develop a communication link among museums.
• Develop an accountability system for museums.
• More opportunity for teachers to participate in professional development at Ball State
• Schools could choose to put their site review reports online for others to view.
• Need more celebration of joint work.
• Allow preservice teachers to make student teaching decisions after participation.
• Change time of Student Teacher Fair. It is too early in students' careers.
• Move participation class earlier in their career.
• Announce the option to use meetings, such as the Institute meeting, as a professional growth experience for license renewal and provide a letter or certificate at the end.
• Provide more opportunities for PDSs to share how they meet the needs of a diverse population.
• Explore more external support for PDSs.
• Need commitment to research goals.
• Be sure university continues support and provides liaison continuity. Relationships are more important than money.
• Need more arts and sciences involvement.

Thanks to Mark Kornmann, Director of Outreach Programs, and Best Buy, one of the sponsors of the Electronic Field Trips, three $25 Best Buy gift certificates were given as door prizes. The winners were Pat Clark, Nancy Melser, and Cindy Senseman.

Rebecca Holmquist invited everyone to enjoy the Minnetrista exhibits.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m.