ECU partners with regional schools, colleges to train teachers
East Carolina University celebrated decades of eastern North Carolina partnerships and a program rebrand at an annual College of Education (COE) advisory board meeting on Dec. 4.
Partnership Teach was officially unveiled as the new name for the COE’s online degree completion model. In the program, formerly known as Partnership East, students take courses at a North Carolina community college and then transfer to ECU to complete a teaching degree.
“The name Partnership East reflected the original footprint which was only in eastern N.C. We continue to focus our efforts in the east, but over the years, we have expanded our online opportunities to all 100 counties,” said Kathy Bradley, Partnership Teach coordinator. “With this being the last year we receive funding from the SECU Foundation, it was a good time to embrace the name change to Partnership Teach which better reflects our mission of growing teachers through partnership.”
During the meeting, representatives from the 23 two-year and community colleges that compose Partnership Teach resigned their agreements with ECU. Public school systems that are members of the Latham Clinical Schools Network also reaffirmed their commitments.
“These kinds of partnerships are integral to our work that we do together to prepare educators,” COE Interim Dean Art Rouse said. “The College of Education’s motto is ‘Excellence Through Partnership’ and these partnerships exhibit that motto daily. Our College of Education believes in a clinically based model of educator preparation and we truly cannot accomplish that without the willingness of our public school partners to open their doors and welcome our students into real-life situations. Our college is also committed to access and we could not be accessible to prospective educators without the community college connections and collaborations with our Partnership Teach.”
Agreements with public schools and community colleges help to fulfill ECU’s dedication to eastern North Carolina.
“There’s no better strategy for the future of our region than homegrowing talent,” Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said. “These local pipelines result in a huge level of success for our region and our students.”
Another successful partnership for ECU is the Latham Clinical Schools Network, a group of 43 public school systems in eastern North Carolina that provide classrooms for ECU student teachers.
“It shows a commitment of our college to the region and to these public schools that we really care about putting out quality teachers to help the students in this region get a quality education,” said Dr. Vivian Covington, COE assistant dean of undergraduate affairs.
Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson, left, shakes hands with one of the College of Education’s partners. Educators met on Dec. 4 to celebrate 23 years of public school partnership and 17 years of Partnership Teach. (ECU Photos by Cliff Hollis)
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Public school and community college educators signed a banner to signify their commitment to ECU partnerships.
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Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson, left, shakes hands with Edgecombe Community College President Dr. Gregory McLeod as Wayne County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore signs the banner.
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These partnerships have multiple benefits for both the school systems and ECU, especially when it comes to collaborating on educator preparation and grant work.
“We leverage this network in so many ways for student success and for the success of the network and its school systems,” Mitchelson said. “But we also leverage it in very creative ways in terms of professional development and also grant work. I’ve seen a lot of this work firsthand. It’s really exciting. We had a room full of students the other day and their teachers from this network who were focused on the intersection of computational science and art.”
Being able to partner with a wide variety of schools is an invaluable resource for both future teachers and the schools that want to employ them.
“This network is a very rich region of real-world experiences and challenges that our students are exposed to,” Covington said. “We would never dream of preparing teachers without making sure that they are fully steeped in real-life experiences. In order to do that, you have to have a commitment with public school partners.”
Students’ work in public schools begins their sophomore year and culminates in a two-part internship during their senior year.
“The internship is roughly 600 hours and they probably do at least another 80-100 hours between their sophomore and junior years,” Covington said. “They’re getting about 700 hours of on-the-job training before they are hired and I think that’s why our public school partners want our students.”
The partnerships that ECU has with community and two-year colleges benefit the university and colleges beyond increased enrollment. Almost 900 students have graduated from the Partnership Teach degree completion model.
“Many of our students are nontraditional and have experience as teacher assistants,” Bradley said. “They bring a more seasoned perspective to the discussions in the online classes.”
Partnership Teach is comprised of Louisburg College and the following 22 community colleges: Beaufort, Carteret, Central Carolina, Coastal Carolina, College of the Albemarle, Craven, Edgecombe, Fayetteville Technical, Halifax, James Sprunt, Johnston, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Pamlico, Pitt, Roanoke-Chowan, Sampson, Vance-Granville, Wake Technical, Wayne and Wilson.
The 43 public schools systems that make up the Latham Clinical Schools Network are Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chatham, Clinton City, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edenton-Chowan, Edgecombe, Elizabeth City-Pasquotank, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Nash-Rocky Mount, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Roanoke Rapids, Sampson, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Weldon City and Wilson.
For more information and photos, contact Kristen Martin at martinkr19@ecu.edu or 252-737-1151.
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Contact: Kristen Martin, College of Education public communications specialist, martinkr19@ecu.edu, 252-737-1151