UofSC Professional Development Schools Network

The 6th Annual PDS-SERVE Conference was held at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Saturday, November 12, 2022.

The USC PDS Network had five presentations demonstrating the work being conducted in elementary, middle, and high schools in the network, the research of the USC PDS Fellows, and collaboration across institutions.

Of note, PDS-SERVE has changed its name to Southeastern Association of School-University Partnerships (SASUP). We look forward to the 2023 SASUP Conference!

What is the importance of school-university partnerships during a time of teacher shortages?

The University of South Carolina College of Education’s Dr. Kristin Harbour and Dr. Christie Martin, along with UNC Charlotte’s Dr. Drew Polly and Dr. Madelyn W. Colonnese, recently explored this question and more while serving as guest editors for the 2022 themed issue of PDS Partners titled “Leveraging School-University Partnerships for Student Learning and Teacher Inquiry.”

To read the journal and learn more, follow the link below.

https://napds.org/2022-themed-issue-leveraging-school-university-partnerships-for-student-learning-and-teacher-inquiry/

So proud to announce that our very own Michelle Myers is the keynote speaker for the PDS-SERVE virtual conference to be held on October 24, 2020! Michelle will share her research and experiences with PDS colleagues across the southeast.

In our final summer installment of “Meet the Fellows,” we’d like to introduce you to the following scholarly practitioners:

· Brooke Biery, a science teacher at Dutch Fork High in Lex-Rich 5, is “so very grateful and excited to work with the PDS network!!” A student in the Curriculum Studies concentration, Brooke sees being a Fellow as a chance to deconstruct “social and systematic barriers for students who are on the margins of our educational system. Working within the PDS Network means growing professionally, bettering my practice, and being able to share it with others through a well-established, innovative, and forward-thinking structure." Her dissertation will focus on demographic disparities in grade-level courses.

· Kat Degar, a digital integration specialist at CrossRoads Intermediate in Lex-Rich 5, recently joined the Learning Design and Technologies program to discover how to “facilitate more instructional technology use in the classroom.” Kat feels “very blessed” to be a PDS Fellow, adding, “It is an honor to be able to represent my district with the work I am doing. I am learning so much and feel like it is helping me grow as a professional.”

· Kimberly Smalls, a 4th-grade teacher at Killian Elementary in Richland 2, believes, “Being a PDS Fellow bolsters my credibility as an educational leader and affords me the opportunity to network with others.” As a student in the Learning Design and Technologies program, Kimberly intends to examine the use of the flipped classroom model, which has not received much scholarly attention at the elementary level. Studying this innovative practice will enhance Kimberly’s ability to teach through technology and share with other educators