In these times of funding cuts, fewer resources, bigger classes, and high-stakes testing, educators can use any extra resource that they can get.  For teachers at Lake Hazel Middle School, they’re getting that extra help in the way of a Professional Development program.

A professional development school is an intense school-university collaboration for the purpose of preparing future teachers.  The university generally provides students with theory and the professional development school offers teacher-education candidates with extensive, closely-supervised, in-school experience.

For seven years, Lake Hazel Middle School’s PDS has collaborated with Boise State University’s College of Education.  Education majors complete three one-semester “blocks” at Lake Hazel.  In Block 1, interns spend fifty highly-structured hours designed to familiarize students with the culture of the school and the roles of those who work and learn there.   

During the second semester a one-hundred hour field experience takes place where interns are matched with a teacher teaching in the same field.  This semester is meant to prepare the intern for student teaching through developing a working relationship with the mentor as well as introducing the intern to the craft of teaching.  Block II interns may tutor students, shadow teach, attend team and parent meetings, grade papers, teach small groups of students, etc.

Most veteran educators remember student teaching as a brief period of observation followed by a quarter or semester of “sinking” or “swimming” with occasional evaluations from school and university faculty.  PDS schools do not follow this model.  At Lake Hazel, block III interns and mentor teachers spend the entire semester co-teaching.  Interns and mentors work collaboratively developing lesson plans and delivering instruction.

For interns Shams Kadre and Jennifer Hesse, the experience is well worth the time as it helps to bring more to beginning teachers than just the facts; it gives a sense of understanding to the culture of teaching. 

“Being placed at LHMS is a complete experience because you become familiar early on with the entire school,” Hesse said.  “I feel better prepared than if I had been assigned to a non-PDS school.” 

The interning experience at Lake Hazel Middle School has created many opportunities for learning teachers to expand their knowledge and better prepare themselves compared to non-PDS interns. 

“I feel like LHMS has a support net for interns,” Kadre said.  “I don’t feel isolated because there are other interns here and because there’s a family atmosphere of experienced mentors who are accustomed to addressing interns’ needs.” 

The quality of mentor preparation is also reinforced by the fact that five graduates of the LHMS PDS program, so far, now teach at Lake Hazel.   Lake Hazel Middle School principal Kenton Travis says he would have hired more former interns had there been openings.

Not only does the Professional Development Program benefit the teachers, but students are given the benefit of more mentors and professionals in the classroom.  A well-run PDS program increases the amount of adults working in the classroom by up to twenty or more interns a semester for the school.  Whether interns are tutoring, helping in the media center, proctoring tests, or co-planning and co-teaching classes, students benefit.

Representative of the benefits of the Professional Development program, students at Lake Hazel Middle School routinely score above state averages on standardized tests such as the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and on district end-of-course tests.  Test scores can improve due, in part, to the additional initiatives interns can help provide. 

Principal Kenton Travis is excited to continue this program as it brings added benefit to each student and teacher involved.  Travis said that each student is fortunate to have added help in the classroom.

“When parents start requesting teachers who have block II and III interns, we’ll know our Professional Development program has arrived,” Travis said. “In thirty-one years of education, Professional Development School is the most powerful program I’ve seen.  It is changing student performance in a positive way.”