Customized professional development for in-service teachers in a school-university partnership

This article describes a successful professional development model conducted in an urban K-6 (ages 5-11) elementary school located in Memphis, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Frayser Elementary School is one of 11 schools involved in the University of Memphis Professional Development Schools Partnership. The school and the partnership have progressively moved toward using an approach to professional development that has the greatest potential for influencing student learning. This approach includes the presentation of theory, modeling, practice, feedback, and peer-coaching for application (Joyce & Showers, 1980). Professional development activities are inextricably connected to the four major components of the PDS programme, supervision of student teachers, school improvement planning, clinical professor training, and applied research and inquiry.