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Iris camera

Assuming that funding will not be available in the future to support the supervision and evaluation of interns in the San Diego and Riverside area school districts, National University’s School of Education has begun to explore cost saving measures. With the help of a grant by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, they have purchased ten remote controlled observation cameras called IRIS Cameras. These cameras can send and receive as well as record audio and video from the classroom to any offsite location. Its purpose is to record student teacher and interns working toward a teaching credential in live classroom settings. The university supervisor can then critique the lesson with the student intern and his or her school supervisor after the observed class lesson. It can also be used to record best practices to be shared with other students and teachers for staff development purposes. Institutional Review Board (IRB) permission was required along with school district, parent, student and supervising teacher release forms being signed (Holt&Naffziger, 2010).

Any or all of these Internet opportunities exist for partners to choose depending on the purpose for the partnership and the nature of the participants involved. They have become even more attractive with the austerity initiatives being put in place by state and local governments.

Partnership advantages in leadership preparation programs

Educational administrative programs at the university level focus on many categories in their capstone courses. One area that seems to be overlooked is that of outreach to assist school districts within their service area. If candidates were to focus on the real issues facing school district administrators and teachers, they would gain the practical experience needed when they become the instructional leaders of a school or school district. Attention to this area could provide evidence to university mission statements such as “…engaging in collaborative community service” (National University Catalog, 2011).

Cost savings

As a result of using the resources of higher education, and the technology available, school districts can save money and time by not hiring expensive educational consultants, as well as solving problems in real time. By using the technologies available such as podcasts and video conferencing, participants from all institutions can avoid the costs of travel and lodging. There is a good deal of money to be saved in time alone by using the internet conveying data to help with the decision making.

Discussion and conclusion

Inherent in a partnership is the concept of a team. Teaming provides shared governance and can reduce stress on the team leader or school administrator in charge. Andrews et al. (2007) states “The potential to share leadership functions with peers and colleagues reduces the cognitive, emotional, and effort-related strains on individual leaders is among the compelling reasons to create leadership (or partnership) teams in the first place” (Andrews, 2007).

School districts and universities have been working together for years. Today’s economic pressures have made these relationships even more attractive. Partnership education will be more a part of our consciousness as we see the benefits and rewards in the growth of student achievement. As was cited in this paper, technology is helping to facilitate connecting schools and school districts with universities. Researcher Paul Murrell (1998) wrote “Joint productive work means working out the details of partnership without a blueprint or template to guide these deliberations. However, partnerships can learn from the work of others who have been doing this type of work in their communities in recent years” (Murrell, 1998). University schools of education are bringing educational research to school districts to assist in solving their curricular and financial problems. In helping PreK-12 schools, universities are fulfilling their mission as well. Technology is the vehicle that can accelerate the communication, but it is the knowledge, and caring of students by both parties in a synergistically focused manner that will make the difference in a child’s education.

Discussion questions

  1. How can educational leaders increase collective learning and innovation in our public and private schools?
  2. To what extent do leaders have influence on learning and innovation in organizations?
  3. What is organizational culture and how does it influence the change process?
  4. What are some guidelines to help leaders implement change?
  5. Why do efforts in organizational change often fail?
  6. What are some guidelines to help educational leaders implement and sustain change?

References

American Speech – Language and Hearing Association. (April 2011). Model Collaborative University and School District Partnerships. 21. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/advocacy/state.

Andrews, K. T., Ganz, M., Baggetta, M., Han, H.,&Lim, C. (2007). Leadership, Membership, and Voice: Civic Associations That Work. Unpublished manuscript.

Berk, R. A. (2010). How do you leverage the latest technologies, including Web 2.0 tools, in your classroom? International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 6 (1), 1-13.

Chatman, J.&Flynn, F. J. (2001). “The Indulgence of Demographic Composition on the Emergence and Consequences of Cooperative Norms in Groups.” Academy of Management Journal, 44 (5), 956-974.

Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence. The Psychology of Persuasion. (4th ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Eisler, R. (2002). ”Partnership Education for the 21st Century“. Encounter Journal, 15 .(3), 5-12.

Frank, R. H., Gilovich, T.,&Regan, D. T. (1993). “Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 7 (2), 159-171.

Holt, S.,&Naffziger, L. (2010). A Pilot Project Using Remote Observation Equipment to View, Interact, and Evaluate Candidates in Clinical Practice Activities. American Council on Rural Special Education Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico. .

Haller, A.,&Brown, K. (2011). Creating a School/University Partnerships , paper presented to the Illinois State Board of Education. Springfield, Illinois.

Kotter, J. P.,&Heskett, J. L. (2002). Corporate Culture and Performance. New York: Free Press.

National University, (2011). Catalog, Mission 20, La Jolla, California.

Murrell, P. (1998). Like stone soup: The role of professional development schools in the renewal of urban schools. Washington, D.C.: AACTE.

Orozco, L. (2009). “Leadership Innovation: Preparing Leaders Through Technology in Authentic Assessment.” Paper read at the California Association of Professors of Educational Administration Fall Conference. Los Angeles, California.

Reynoso, J. (2008). “E-mentoring.” Presentation to the National University Fresno Academic Center Leadership Team. April, 2008. Fresno, California

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Source:  OpenStax, Educational leadership and administration: teaching and program development, volume 23, 2011. OpenStax CNX. Sep 08, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11358/1.4
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