Administrators of Wichita State University College of Education and Wichita Public Schools accepted the Shirley S. Schwartz Urban Education Impact Award at the 2015 conference of the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) in Long Beach, California. 

The award honors an outstanding partnership between a university and an urban school district that has had a positive and significant impact on student learning. 

“We are thrilled to celebrate the school-university partnership work submitted for the Dr. Shirley Schwartz Urban Impact Award from Wichita State on behalf of their partners in improving teacher quality for the students they serve,” said Deborah Shanley, chair of the Great City Colleges of Education and professor at Brooklyn College-CUNY. “Wichita State's winning proposal was a clear example of the good things that can happen when colleges of education and local school districts become equal partners.”

Wichita State places teacher education students in Wichita Public School’s K-12 classrooms with highly qualified teachers who serve as mentors and model excellence in teaching. 

“The partnership is a unique reform effort in Kansas, designed and implemented as a program in which all College of Education students experience urban school classrooms with our best teachers,” said John Allison, superintendent of Wichita Public Schools. 

The most recent reform to the program has increased opportunities over the course of college students’ academic careers to observe and practice teaching in diverse K-12 classroom settings. 

“This award provides wonderful recognition of the great partnership our college enjoys with Wichita Public Schools,” said Shirley Lefever-Davis, dean of the College of Education. “We have been partners for many years, and the project that resulted in this honor is just the most recent step in advancing our relationship.”

The College of Education has sustained the project's key initiatives, including the Professional Development School model. Lefever-Davis said this ensures that all teacher education students maximize their experiences in the field, benefitting both WSU students and Wichita Public Schools students.