College of Education

Shawnee Mission School District Partnership

Shawnee Mission School District logo Raising the bar for promising practices in teacher education research, and applying new technology to the SMSD instructional coaching model.

The College of Education and Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) entered a partnership that delivers upon the university’s land-grant mission in 21st century style.

Innovative Professional Development School Model (iPDS)

The K-State College of Education and the Shawnee Mission School District have collaborated to pilot an innovative professional development school model, iPDS. This hybrid model embeds teacher candidates in Shawnee Mission elementary schools and utilizes the technological assets of both partners.

  • SMSD provides teacher candidates with iPad technology available in the buildings to capture videos of their student teaching.
  • K-State provides software for distance supervision as videos are uploaded to the cloud for clinical feedback from college professors.

The teacher candidates become highly trained in the SMSD instructional coaching model in Apache Innovative School, Broken Arrow Elementary, and Rosehill Elementary.

Benefits of the Model

For Shawnee Mission School District:

  • Increased numbers of K-State College of Education students are in the pipeline for SMSD hiring upon graduation.

  • Lower student-to-teacher ratios in classrooms benefit students.

  • Teacher candidates become classroom ready with knowledge of “the Shawnee Mission Way” of professional teaching practices.

For Kansas State University:

  • Teacher candidates are immersed in the philosophical, pedagogical, and technological assets of SMSD educators.

  • Uploaded classroom videos allow for fidelity of implementation of College of Education conceptual framework.

  • The college continues research and development of an innovative professional development school model.