A Professional Development School partnership: A close look at professional growth opportunities.

In this study, teacher candidates, mentor teachers, school principals, and university educators participated in interviews revealing their personal perceptions of the impact of the professional development component that exists as part of the Professional Development School partnership between the local university and four elementary schools. The participant dialogues were analyzed and coded in search of themes prevalent in the perceptions and voices of selected participants which represented all levels of the PDS partnership. The main relevance of the study was to provide insight and new understandings of the professional growth opportunities that occur in the partnership. The study addressed the overarching question: How do teacher candidates and other professionals experience professional growth and learning opportunities as part of the PDS collaborative agreement between the university and the elementary partner schools