Speakers
Dr. Patricia Best has served as the superintendent of
the State College Area School District for the past ten years. She has been part of the school district for more than thirty years, first as a high school teacher, then counselor, and
has held several administrative positions, including assistant superintendent. Her leadership of a nationally recognized school district is based upon absolute commitment to student
learning, excellence and innovation in instruction and services, and meaningful parent and community involvement. Dr. Best also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the College of
Education and the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State.
The State College Area School District and Penn State initiated a fledgling partnership professional development school, which is just entering its second decade. The PDS has grown to include all elementary schools in the district and is the recipient of three prestigious national recognitions in the past eight years. Most recently the PDS was named recipient of the inaugural Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement Award, given by the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS), in March.
Dr. Best completed her undergraduate degree at Bowling Green State University of Ohio, her M.A. at Ohio State University, and her doctorate at Penn State. Dr. Best has received the Penn State College of Education Alumni Society Leadership and Service Award, the Penn State Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa Leadership and Service Award, the University Council for Educational Administration Excellence in Educational Leadership Award and was honored by the Bowling Green State University Alumni Association in recognition of her community service.
Audrey Kleinsasser is the director
of University of Wyoming's school-university partnerships. The Wyoming school-university partnership brings together K–12 teachers and administrators, faculty from the
University of Wyoming College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences, and other stakeholders in the education of children and their teachers to study and promote the role
of public education in preparing students for life and work in a democracy.
The partnership is a member of the National Network of Education Renewal (NNER), which works to provide equal access to quality learning for all students; promote responsible stewardship of our schools and universities; and improve teaching and learning through pedagogy that nurtures and challenges all learners and provides students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to become fully engaged participants in our democratic society. John Goodlad refers to the NNER as the proofing sites for the ongoing research and inquiry conducted by the Institute for Educational Inquiry.
Bruce E. Field is the executive director of school-university
partnerships and clinical experiences in the University of South Carolina's College of Education. Before coming to South Carolina in 2001, he spent twelve years as a high school
social studies teacher in Wyoming, Illinois, and Virginia; and eight years as an historian of twentieth century U.S. diplomatic history and the coordinator of secondary social studies
education at Northern Illinois University.
In his role at South Carolina, he coordinates a twelve-school professional development school network that is part of a larger partnership initiative with seven school districts in the Greater Columbia area. He has played an integral role in the University of South Carolina’s annual Professional Development Schools National Conference and served as the inaugural president of the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) when that organization was launched in 2005. Along with Northeastern Illinois University's Elliott Lessen and the University of South Florida's Roger Brindley, he co-authored the NAPDS's April 2008 position paper titled What it Means to Be a Professional Development School.
Dr. James Nolan, a graduate of Penn State, is currently
the Hermanowicz Professor of Education and served as co-coordinator of the elementary professional development school partnership between Penn State University and the State College
Area School District for nine years. He is the author of numerous articles in professional journals. Most of these articles focus on the topics of reflective supervision, professional
development, and classroom management. He is the co-author of three books: Teacher Supervision and Evaluation: Theory into Practice (Wiley/Jossey-Bass); Principles of
Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-Making Model (Allyn & Bacon); and Teachers and Educational Change: The Lived Experience of Secondary School
Restructuring (SUNY Press).
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