Partnership for Excellence: The Visiting Instructor Program

Abstract

The College of Education at Cleveland State University engages in a Visiting Instructors Program in partnership with area school districts. Annually, outstand ing classroom teachers are nominated by their districts to serve for a year as regular full-time members of the faculty team in the undergraduate preparation of teachers. The contributions of this partnership to realism and modeling in professional course work, as well as the benefits to individual teachers and participating districts, are described by the authors. The evidence presented counters the misconception of deep divisions between school practitioners and college faculty and suggests a technique for improving education at all levels.