Manhattan-Ogden School District Partnership
The K-State College of Education and Manhattan-Ogden School District have had a long relationship involving opportunities for P-12 student enrichment, professional development for preservice and P-12 teachers, and collaborative inquiry and research.
USD #383/K-State Action Research Partnership
This action research partnership between the school district educators and the university teacher education faculty provided educators the opportunity to deepen their practice through sustained and collaborative inquiry on classroom practice. Funded by a literacy grant (K-Link) and facilitated by a university assistant professor, the teacher-researchers have presented at the College of Education's Research and Creative Activities Fair. A few projects were also presented at the National Association of Professional Development Schools' conference and published in the open-access NAPDS peer-review journal School-University Partnerships in Winter 2020.
The STEM Summer Institute
The STEM Summer Institute, a partnership between USD 383 and the College of Education, provides hands-on STEM-related activities for middle schoolers for area students. Begun in 2011, it brings as many as 350 middle schoolers during the month of June onto the KSU campus. The class topics range from robotics to writing to food and are taught by leading USD 383 faculty, as well as COE faculty members. Additionally, the institute provides quality field experiences for KSU COE’s pre-service teachers.
Professors of Practice
The College of Education employs two Professors of Practice. One Elementary Professor of Practice, Tracey Conway, and one Secondary Professor of Practice, Dustin Meritt. They serve as liaisons between the local school district, USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden, and the College of Education.
As liaisons, the Professors of Practice work to strengthen the partnership by offering professional development opportunities to pre-service teachers and K-12 teachers, supervising student interns in the classroom, teaching undergraduate courses on campus, assisting with the coordination of field experience placements, and streamlining communication between the district and the university.
Enrichment Opportunities for P-12 Students
The College of Education not only places pre-service teachers in USD 383 schools but also brings P-12 students and teachers into classrooms on campus. The professors and instructors in the College of Education work to develop enrichment opportunities for P-12 students in our partnership. Each semester, P-12 students come to Bluemont Hall to participate in Science and Literacy Enrichment Days. Pre-service teachers and P-12 students partner up for a day of learning.
Science and Literacy Enrichment opportunities include:
- participating in interactive read-alouds
- creating book trailers
- collaborating with peers in new environments
- engineering design challenges
- inquiry-based learning activities