Signature Programs
At Bowie State University, the PDS Network includes several signature programs. These programs align with the NAPDS 9 Essentials and MSDE PDS Standards to prepare future educators. Below are our signature programs.
Action Research
Teacher candidates in the Bowie State PDS Network conduct action research in classrooms with a mentor teacher. The teacher candidate, faculty, and mentor teacher work together to develop a topic of research. Teacher candidates are then supported by Bowie State faculty to present their action research to the teachers at the PDS network location and to a panel of faculty on Bowie State campus.
Inquiry Group
Inquiry groups go far beyond conversations held during the school day in grade level and department meetings and offer more formality than the collaborative and collegial conversations that normally exist in a PDS. They also integrate the less complex components of action research (Garin, 2017).
Each PDS site meets to identify areas that they would like to explore to enhance PK-12 learning through teacher learning and self-reflection. Site-Based PDS Coordinators bring their ideas for inquiry to PDSN meetings for discussion and sharing. One of our favorite meetings is when teams of teachers come to campus to explore the plethora of books from a book distributor that they can borrow to take back to their PDS site where they confirm their topic and choose a book to support their inquiry. It is not unusual for a PDS site to have multiple inquiry groups designed to address differing needs and interests. Inquiry group participants include any teacher in the PDS site whether they serve as a mentor teacher or not, teacher candidates, PDS Supervisors, and PDS Site-Based Coordinators. Our PDSN has read over 110 books since this initiative began.
View the full list of Bowie State University PDSN Inquiry Group Books
Monthly PDS Network Meetings
The Bowie State PDS network facilitates partner meetings once a month with university faculty and supervisors, principals, PDS school coordinators, mentor teachers, school district and MSDE liaisons.
Bowie State PDS network hosts an annual summer strategic planning meeting for PDS partners.
Methods Courses
Bowie State PDS offers on site methods courses for teacher candidates completing internship semesters in network schools. Many are taught by mentor teachers and school principals. Special attention is placed on bridging theory and practice.
Project Based Learning
The PDS Network has ongoing development and projects with our partners with support form grants. Below are several grants and projects Bowie State has collaborated on.
- Strengthening Writing through Culturally Responsive Teaching
- Preparing and Retaining Diverse, High Quality, Secondary School STEM Teachers
- Computer Science Teacher Education Program
- The Collaborative Video Lab: Enhancing Pre-service Teacher Experiences through CRP