The School of Education received the Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement Award on March 10, 2017, from the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) at their annual conference. NAPDS honored Monmouth for their focus on increasing P-12 student learning while developing strong programs to support education professionals and the provision of outstanding teacher preparation. The Monmouth partnership was one of only three school-university partnerships recognized nationally. For years, the School of Education at Monmouth has had an outstanding local reputation for producing great teachers. Now, the school has been recognized nationally.
John E. Henning, Dean of the School of Education, says that he is extremely proud of the work that the school partners and university faculty have done over the years to forge this partnership. “Monmouth University is so fortunate to work with visionary, innovative school leaders who understand the positive impact of university and school partnerships on P-12 student learning and teacher preparation,” said Henning. “Our success is also due to tremendous leadership from the highly committed School of Education faculty and staff who have dedicated themselves to serving children through better teacher preparation.”
NAPDS defines professional development schools as those which are uniquely positioned to prepare future educators; provide current educators with ongoing, job-embedded professional development; encourage joint inquiry of education-related issues; and promote the learning of P-12 students. The Monmouth University Partnership is a professional development partnership between the School of Education and the Freehold Township, Hazlet, Long Branch, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional, Middletown, and Ocean school districts. “The partnership between Monmouth University and Middletown Public Schools has been mutually beneficial because we have worked collaboratively to research, develop and implement best practice in teaching and learning,” said Middletown’s Superintendent of Public Schools William O. George III.
“Having Monmouth University teacher candidates work with our teachers and students from the time they are doing their observation hours through their teacher residency, creates an opportunity for purposeful reflective practice for our educators and valuable training for the student residents.”
