The School Development Program (SDP) began as a partnership between the New Haven Public Schools and the Yale Child Study Center. Over the years school-university partnerships have been a key component of the SDP’s strategic dissemination plan.
Our University partners demonstrate their commitment in a number of ways. In addition to working closely with schools or school districts, in-service teachers, administrators, and other support personnel on identified professional development needs, faculty from partnering universities often work directly with the pre-K-12 students in those schools.
Faculty design and deliver courses and provide professional experiences for their pre-service teachers and aspiring administrators that emphasize child and adolescent development and the other principles outlined in the SDP’s approach to school organization and management. We encourage our partners to disseminate the results of their partnership work with the broader education community including policy makers.
The SDP maintains current university partnerships with four universities that are committed to making child and adolescent development a part of the professional identity of their students, particularly those in education, counseling, social work, and the allied health professions. They are:
Current University Partnerships
Bibb County Public Schools and Macon State College, Georgia
The faculty and staff at Agnes Barden Elementary School are participating in ongoing professional development activities designed to increase parent and family involvement and to promote prosocial behaviors in the classroom. The work in this partnership has been supported by grants from the Elam Alexander Trust, the Boeing–McDonnell Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Springfield Public Schools and Drury University Department of Education and Child Development, Missouri
This partnership started in 1996 and has been funded by the university, the school district, and by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Topeka Public Schools and Washburn University, Kansas
The leaders of SDP schools in Topeka share practices through professional development to ensure ongoing implementation of the program.
