The Holmes Group,
a consortium of approximately 100 research universities, was incorporated in
1986 "to enhance the quality of career professionals in teaching" (Holmes Group,
1990, p. vii). Auburn University is a charter member of this consortium.
In Tomorrow's
Teachers published that spring, the following specific goals for the group
were listed:
-
Make the
education of teachers intellectually more solid.
-
Recognize
differences in teachers' knowledge, skill, and commitment in their
education, certification, and work.
-
Create
standards of entry to the profession of teaching - examinations and
educational requirements - that are professionally relevant and
intellectually defensible.
-
Connect
schools of education to schools.
-
Make school
better places for teachers to work and to learn.
In May of 1988,
President James E. Martin of Auburn University appointed the Auburn University
Holmes Group Committee. Among its members were public school administrators;
public school classroom teachers; a representative of the Alabama State
Department of Education; and faculties and administrators in the Colleges of
Education, Liberal Arts, Agriculture, and Sciences and Mathematics at Auburn
University. The Committee was asked to consider national, regional, and state
reform reports and make recommendations how the preparation of teachers could be
improved at Auburn University. Specifically to be looked at were the goals of
the Holmes Group.
Responding to its
charge, the Auburn University Holmes Group Committee focused on six specific
areas:
(a)
Reform goals and agenda
(b)
General education/disciplinary studies
(c)
Professional education
(d)
Laboratory experiences
(e) Minorities
(f) Certification
Related
literature was identified and reviewed. Preliminary summaries and position
statements were developed for each area. These documents were reviewed,
discussed, and edited by the Committee. Based on the results of this process
more than 18 months, recommendations for teacher education at Auburn University
were advanced.
Recommendations
specific to the Holmes Group goal, Connect Schools of Education to Schools,
were:
1. Support
should be given to professional development schools and centers, both of which
focus attention on shared responsibility for the preparation of effective
teachers.
2. Those
public school teachers who supervise interns and/or contribute to other
professional courses should be recognized with clinical instructor’s status on
temporary assignment.
3. Faculty
exchange programs between Auburn University and the public schools should be
established.
4. Cooperative
research by public school and university faculties should be explored.
5. The
laboratory experiences and internship program should continue to be
strengthened.
6. University
and public school faculties must cooperate in this endeavor.
7. The
College of Education faculty and faculty from other colleges and schools should
be available to assist public school curriculum developers.
The Chairperson
of the Auburn University Holmes Group Committee, the Dean of the College of
Education, and the Superintendent of Auburn City Schools began preliminary
discussion of how these recommendations could be implemented. Concurrently, they
participated in regional Holmes Group meetings devoted to debate of Tomorrow's Schools: Principles for the Design of Professional Development
Schools. An additional public school administrator and an additional
university faculty member joined them to form an Executive Committee. The idea
of a Professional Development System - a partnership between Auburn City Schools
and Auburn University College of Education - emerged.
In the spring of
1990, the Executive Committee began developing common perspectives and thoughts
on the collaborative effort. They brainstormed ways such a collaborative venture
would not only be educationally sound for the Auburn City Schools and Auburn
University, but also beneficial for both groups. A resolution supporting such
efforts was drawn up and passed by the Auburn City Schools Board of Education
and the Auburn University Board of Trustees.
In October 1990,
the Executive Committee appointed a larger committee which joined with them to
form the Auburn City Schools/Auburn University Professional Development System
Committee (PDS). The committee membership now consisted of eight Auburn City
Schools personnel plus eight Auburn University College of Education professors
and/or administrators.
Three issues were
selected by the PDS Committee as the focus of the initial subcommittees:
1.
Definition of Professional Development
2.
System Inventory of Current Positive
3.
Collaborative Practices Clinical Experiences
As these
committees completed their objectives, the permanent committees were formed:
-
Research and
Evaluation
-
Clinical
Experiences
-
Forum
-
Action
