Clarke Education Department Receives Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant

Clarke College is pleased to announce that the College’s education department was one of only two institutions recently awarded a federal Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant administered by the Iowa Department of Education. Clarke, a nationwide leader in the professional development school (PDS) model of teacher education, offers the first PDS program of its kind in Iowa.

The $37,000 grant will fund efforts to improve the teaching of reading, math and science in middle schools, with the hopes of eventually establishing a permanent Clarke professional development school (PDS) site in an area middle school.

The professional development school (PDS) approach is a teacher-education model designed to give education majors more real-life experience in the classroom prior to graduation. Clarke and partner schools in the Dubuque area share responsibility to strengthen clinical preparation of new teachers, continue development of school and College faculty, support children’s learning and support research directed at the improvement of teaching and learning.

The concept is designed to create a unique setting in which teacher learning is embedded in the real world of schools. Clarke has a classroom at each PDS school for Clarke students and education faculty who, in turn, conduct and observe classes with the partner-school teachers and students. The College currently has PDS sites at Fulton Elementary School, St. Anthony Elementary School and Table Mound Elementary School.