Higher Education Partnerships with the Social Studies and History Department
Teaching and learning, as we often write about on this blog, is frequently highlighting the learning experiences of our students and the work of our skilled and talented teachers. However, teaching and learning does not occur in a vacuum and we are very proud to be part of the pipeline development programs across the state where our classrooms can be places of learning for future educators too. We have always had various student teachers, pre-practicum students and field placement students for clinical fields. Our new focus though has been to develop stronger, more purposeful and multi-dimensional partnerships with the area instructions of higher education where both the university/college and the district can benefit.
As part of the district’s ongoing effort to recruit and retain highly-qualified educators, Pentucket has partnered with a handful of colleges and universities, including Gordon, Endicott, Salem State, Merrimack, and Boston College. Collaborating with these institutions of higher education has been beneficial for both the district and the college students. These educators-in-training - candidates- often bring with them a fresh energy and enthusiasm that can invigorate Pentucket’s school community and inspire both teachers and students. On the other hand, the students get to learn firsthand how teaching theories and methods are put into practice in a public school setting.
This Spring semester, Endicott College in Beverly, MA sent undergraduate students to join Pentucket Social Studies and English teachers in the classroom. Endicott teacher candidates have been working throughout the middle/high school in grades 7-12 with mentor teachers. These undergraduate students have a requirement for Clinical Placement in the education department with a goal of observing different teaching techniques and gaining a broader understanding of possible practicum placements so that their future experiences are the right fit.
“I liked watching Ms. Beaton and learning from her about the work being done in the AP Psychology class as she prepared the students for the AP test at the end of the year. In particular, she starts off with a short writing activity, reviews key vocabulary and related concepts, then transitions the students into group activities for collaborative learning.” - Reece DesRochers, Endicott College Class of ‘26 (History and Secondary Education Major)
The placement requirements expect the undergraduate students to be participating in a variety of activities in the history and social studies department but with a specific lens towards developing literacy skills through content. As a district that has focused on using high-quality curriculum and leveraging instructional practices supported by evidence and research, our classrooms are the perfect place for future educators to gain experience. This year the students spent time in the following content classes:
Psychology and AP Psychology
US History I
US History II
Geography and World Civilizations (gr. 7)
The future teaching candidates are mostly in their sophomore year of college and must complete 40-60 hours at the host school. They have been working with teachers 2-3 mornings a week, observing instruction at first and learning about all of the things they may never have known that teachers must prepare for.
This type of field placement has benefits to the teacher candidates but also to the students in Pentucket who then experience more devoted attention. The candidates have been engaged with any one of the following activities as a lead up to preparing for a full lesson as their semester experience comes to an end:
Run small groups & intervention groups
Provide general student support in the classroom
Co-teach with teacher support
Working on a plan to teach one Historically Responsive Lesson (HRL) to a whole group or small group as a final assessment/project
Helped prep and proctor MCAS exams
“In the freshman US History 1 course, I had the opportunity to observe and help prepare students for a research paper. Observing the collaborative relationship that the classroom teacher had with the library media specialist gave me insight into how much planning goes into supporting students with writing in the content area. The instruction for proper citations and even the collaborative instruction on avoiding plagiarism and AI traps was helpful to see the approach from the teacher's lens.” - Jayson Chaclas, Endicott College Class of ‘26 (History major with a concentration in secondary education)
The relationship has proven so successful that next fall Pentucket Regional Middle High School will host 2 “full time” student teachers in the social studies and history department. These student teachers get a fully immersive experience with structured guidance from the cooperating teacher and observations by the practicum supervisor from the college. They participate in all aspects of the school and district professional expectations for teachers including staff meetings, professional development and parent/guardian conferences and communication.
“It was a teacher in 7th grade, who I had for history, who helped me to connect to the content and made me realize how much I really enjoy social studies and history. It was that experience that made me realize I wanted to teach HS history. I chose Endicott because the size was the right fit for me and the 4+1 program that would allow me to have a Master’s in Education in just 5 years, which seemed like a great opportunity.” - Michaela Anjoorian, Endicott Class of ‘26 (History with a concentration in secondary education)
One of the goals of enhancing the partnerships is that the district and the area colleges can better align our work which is meant to prepare a teaching workforce. In a recent article from the National Council on Teacher Quality, titled Building a strong student teaching model: Districts and teacher prep programs share successes and challenges, the authors sought to learn how the two parties could strengthen the entire process.
“Overall, we found little alignment between responses from prep programs and districts. Generally, prep programs tend to identify strengths at a much higher rate than districts do, and districts' top three strengths were all related to the quality of the cooperating teachers they employ.”
The relationship with the universities has also developed into a specific pipeline development program for existing Pentucket staff. As the district has sought innovative ways to ensure we hire and retain highly qualified staff, at times special education positions have been challenging to fill, especially in the past three years. To address this, the district has created a Talent Development Pipeline Program through which we seek to hire for hard-to-fill special education teaching positions by encouraging our own staff members to obtain a Master’s in Special Education and licensure as a special educator. By offering tuition reimbursement for this master’s program, staff members are incentivized to apply to the Pipeline Program, and in return they commit to working for the district for two years in the role of a special education teacher upon completion of their master’s degree and obtaining licensure.
Starting in the summer of 2024, five Pentucket educators will be enrolled in a Master’s program in Special Education at one of our partner universities and they will complete this program within a calendar year making them eligible to earn a special education license with the department of education and be eligible to be hired as a teacher for Pentucket.
A pipeline development program for enhancing a skilled workforce has become an evidenced based strategy with proven outcomes. This approach has been used in a variety of fields and industries as a method to attract, train and support employees while also committing less funding over the extended time because of the upfront investment with individuals that already have demonstrated a capacity and interest in the work. The state of Massachusetts, with its density of higher education and institutions, has successfully used pipeline development programs for the medical field, life sciences, engineering and computer science industries among other fields as well. In fact, Pentucket was already partnering with MASS Hire workforce board for the Manufacturing/Engineering and Life Sciences Advanced Pathways for our high school students because those fields are priority industry sectors.
Applying the same principles for educator workforce development will greatly enhance Pentucket’s capacity to hire and retain skilled educators, especially those in tougher to fill positions such as special education. Initial educator induction and mentoring programs, while evidenced based, are time and money intensive. With some up front planning through a pipeline development program, less money will be spent on the advertising and recruitment process and the induction and mentoring program will also be more likely to be successful.
Teaching and learning is not a single direction concept and in fact this is a reciprocal and multidimensional relationship where the colleges and workforce training institutions can learn from the knowledge and expertise of K-12 schools and districts. District's and classroom teachers can learn from the expertise of those in industry and those conducting research. Of course the students - both K-12 and college students - can benefit and learn from a better aligned workforce development program.