NIU

NIU has a long-standing tradition of working in partnership with schools in the Northern Illinois region. Formal partnership activities exist in several of the colleges. Activities associated with partnerships are wide ranging in diversity and scope. The focus of a partnership may be the K-12 curriculum, preservice teacher education, inservice teacher education, field-based research, or a combination of these. A partnership provides the vehicle for schools and universities to restructure inservice and/or preservice education, K-12 curriculum, school and university curriculum and course delivery, or research and evolution of curricular projects or school activities as a whole. Each partnership emerges in different ways and focuses on different aspects of teacher education. As a result, the school-university partnerships are unique, sharing common goals of improving teaching and learning in both the P-12 schools and the university.

College of Education

College of Education School-University Partnership Office

The College of Education established a Partnership Office in 1997. In addition to providing a staff to develop partnership activities with P-12 schools, the program supports an endowed professor of teacher education who leads efforts to establish relationships with schools and conduct research on partnership activities. Teachers working in local schools are identified as district and building-level liaisons and receive stipends to work with NIU’s undergraduate students and faculty to provide placements, mentorship, and support. A master teacher from a partner school district spends a year on NIU’s campus as a teacher-in-residence, interacting with faculty, students, and supervisors to improve instruction and clinical experiences. A partnership conference is held annually to spotlight the various activities the college is engaged in with the partner schools. Currently there are eight formal partnerships with public schools or school districts, which are managed through the Partnership Office. These include:

• DeKalb
• Glen Ellyn
• Harlem
• Kaneland
• U-46 (Elgin)
• West Chicago
• Rochelle
• Rockford Environmental Science Academy (RESA)

While each partnership agreement is unique, common components in the partnerships include: extended clinical placements for NIU students, (2) classroom teachers as clinical supervisors, (3) mentoring for pre-service teachers, (4) a mentor program or teacher induction program for first year teachers, (5) integrated curriculum and curriculum development, (6) infusion of technology, (7) professional development for staff, (8) immersion experiences, (9) teaching inquiry projects, (10) bilingual opportunities, and (11) service learning and diverse learning experiences.

In addition, each partner district can request a “Partner Project” each semester. In Partner Projects, the school district identifies a particular issue or problem it would like to address where it believes it needs assistance. The Partnership Office provides the resources to pay an individual (known as a university liaison) to work with the district (as a consultant) to address the issue. These liaisons may be from the College of Education or from other colleges or units at NIU. The liaisons are selected based on their expertise and ability to address a particular issue and are screened and approved by the district. Current Partner Projects are in the areas of science curriculum, data analysis, assessment, writing-across-the curriculum, school violence, and program evaluation.

The Partnership Office supports partnerships with several private schools as well. These schools serve Hispanic students in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and in Aurora. The partnerships provide opportunities for NIU’s students to serve as tutors for elementary students and to engage them in activities related to literacy and the arts.

Harlem-NIU Partnership
The Harlem-NIU Partnership works on a professional development school model.
http://www.cedu.niu.edu/partnership/partnershipsites/harlem/index.html

Biology - Partner Project – Kaneland Schools –College of Education (COE), CLAS collaboration to develop a standards-based, K-12 biology curriculum.

Mathematics - Partner Project – Rochelle Schools - COE collaboration to enhance the elementary school mathematics curriculum

Science - Project TEAM – COE initiative to work with teachers in selected schools to bridge educational theory with practice and application in science education.

Environmental Sciences – COE, CLAS collaboration at the Rockford Environmental Sciences Academy, a magnet school program.

Science for Special Education Students – COE, CLAS collaboration working with special education faculty to develop science curriculum and utilize technology to reach special needs students in this area. IBHE Grant

Recruitment and Retention of Science and Math Teachers – COE initiative designed to enhance preparation of future teachers in science and math

College of Education Partnership Definitions

College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

Engineering and Technology - Several grants address training of high school and community college faculty and students.

Assessment via technology – CLAS, CEET collaboration with DeKalb, Geneva, Hononegah, Kaneland, and St. Charles East High Schools to develop modules for assessing progress and performance of students in the intensive student teaching program.

Project Lead the Way is bringing pre-engineering curriculum to schools in Freeport, Rockford, and Elgin as part of a state-wide project. The Dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology serves on the state coordinating committee for Project Lead the Way.

College of Health and Human Sciences

The Speech and Hearing Clinic:

• Provides classroom-based language services with Head Start classrooms and school readiness groups with Jane Shover Easter Seals in DeKalb and Elgin.
• Participates in the regional diagnostic center for assessment of hearing and counseling of school-age children.
• Works with the DeKalb County Special Education Association, Office of Rehabilitation Services, Department of Human Services.
• Works with students and teachers in the following schools: St Mary’s School, DeKalb; Burlington Public Schools; and St. Charles Schools Public Schools.
• Collaborates with NIU’s Child Development Laboratory and Campus Child Care Center in working with student teacher interns on classroom-based language intervention skills.
• Receives approximately $1 million in grants and contracts each year in support of research, training, and service in the area of special needs.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Coalition for Excellence in Education

In June of 2001, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences signed formal partnership agreements with several school districts to create the Coalition for Excellence in Education in order to better serve the needs of the region. The mission of the Coalition for Excellence in Education is to provide multiple opportunities for professional development and to increase collaboration and communication between secondary classroom teachers and university faculty; to develop best practice teaching skills in pre-service teachers and enhance best practice teacher skills of in-service teachers; and to positively impact the quality of teaching and learning in member school districts.

The partnerships include:

• An Intensive Student Teaching program that offers candidates for secondary certification an integrated, yearlong program in which they complete a 16-week internship in a partner school district and will participate in a 16-week teaching assignment in the same school district.
• A "Sharing Our Skills" program that offers opportunities for faculty members in partner school districts and for faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at NIU to share their skills and knowledge to the benefit of the faculty and students in the secondary schools of our partner districts and in the teacher education programs in the College. Typical Sharing Our Skills activities may include (but are not limited to) assisting in curricular development, providing specialized training and/or consultation, assisting in grant development, and guest speaking/teaching.

Districts currently participating in the Coalition for Excellence in Education include:

• DeKalb
• Geneva
• Hononegah
• Oregon
• St. Charles
• Sycamore

Biology - Partner Project – Kaneland Schools –College of Education (COE), CLAS collaboration to develop a standards-based, K-12 biology curriculum.

Environmental Sciences – COE, CLAS collaboration at the Rockford Environmental Sciences Academy, a magnet school program.

Science for Special Education Students – COE, CLAS collaboration working with special education faculty to develop science curriculum and utilize technology to reach special needs students in this area. IBHE Grant

Partnership to Infuse Technology into the Teacher Preparation Curriculum US Department of Education $977,205

Collaboration among COE, CLAS, NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, and four school districts – Kaneland, DeKalb, Glen Ellyn, and Harlem, two community colleges – Rock Valley and Waubonsee, and one corporate partner, the Dukane Corp. The project promotes effective teaching with technology in public schools through technology-rich learning environments, hands on experiences, coursework and clinical experiences and involving pre-service and in-service teachers.

Rockford School and KIDS – COE – professional development in integrating technology into instruction.

Science Inquiry - STARS initiative of COE – Use technology to model inquiry skills, involving students at elementary level in thinking about science.

Summer Technology Integration Workshops - COE training for teachers in integrating technology into classroom instruction.

Technology Infusion - Verizon grant with COE – involves collaboration with schools on infusing technology into curriculum

Teacher Education - English grant with COE - allocates computers for disadvantaged youth entering NIU teacher education programs.

Technology – COE grant project with Ottawa schools for technology professional development for teachers.

Assessment via technology – CLAS, CEET collaboration with DeKalb, Geneva, Hononegah, Kaneland, and St. Charles East High Schools to develop modules for assessing progress and performance of students in the intensive student teaching program.

College of Visual and Performing Arts

College of Visual and Performing Arts Assistantships
The College of Visual and Performing Arts has partnerships with the DeKalb and Sycamore school districts. In these partnerships, the schools partially fund a graduate assistant in the School of Music. The graduate assistants then have a half-time assignment with the high school music programs in the districts.

NIU Outreach

Illinois Council on Economic Education, based at NIU, brings principles of economics and personal finance in standards-aligned projects to schools throughout Illinois. Home of the famous stock-market game.

Illinois Global Finance and Economics High Schools - The Illinois Global Economics and Finance High School program supports partnership high school sites around the state. The program prepares students for entry-level jobs and higher education in careers related to economics and finance. The program provides extensive professional development for teachers to enable the integration of economics and finance topics across the curriculum, as well as, to create and/or support stand-alone courses.

Regional

Institute for Collaboration in Education and Health Services at Aurora University, with an infusion of $10 million in federal money, is building on long-standing partnerships for educator preparation and professional development.

RVC-NIU - NIU's partnership with Rock Valley Community College delivers seven degree completion programs in RVC in Rockford. In its first year, the partnership served more than 500 students, mostly working adults, with classes to fit their needs.

State

Center@IMSA offers a wide variety of professional development opportunities for educators and learning opportunities for Illinois students.
www.imsa.edu

Joint Education CommitteeIllinois' state education agencies formed a P-16 Partnership agreement in 1999. This agreement was implemented through the Joint Education Committee, which consists of representatives of the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Community College Board, Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the Illinois Workforce Investment Board.
"The Illinois P-16 Partnership for Educational Excellence"

National

Education Trust provides support for local P-16 and P-20 councils. http://www.edtrust.org/main/main/what.asp#k16_council

National Association of System Heads represents higher education systems and works with Education Trust on K-16 projects and research.
http://www.nashonline.org/content/k-16info.html