1. WELCOME TO THE URBAN PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING SCHOOLS INITIATIVE (UPLSI)
We have tapped
music, drama, the
We have learned arts and through
about the world as them, our
it has been and we imaginations.
have looked into the
We have all been future.
engaged in learning
since we were
infants. We have
learned about
This handbook is ourselves, our
for you. We families, and the
welcome you to a
world around us.
life-transforming
experience.
2. Now we are revealing Our professional learning schools are Our focus on learning is not only for
an important vehicle to learn about the students but for the school and
those worlds to new learning, for ourselves, for the university faculties who are
generations of children. children, and for the development of
partnering to improve results for
students, and, in doing so, improve
our profession, teaching. how teachers learn about their
practice.
In our professional learning schools,
You probably know that most cities
principals, teachers, university
have teaching hospitals where
faculty, doctoral students, and
doctors, nurses, residents, interns,
residents team every day to improve
and medical students team to heal
the learning opportunities and
their patients.
outcomes for each and every
student.
3. In Arizona, like many states, our students are increasingly bilingual,
offer a tapestry of cultural, religious, and ethnic heritages, and
bring expectations and experiences that challenge the status quo.
• We have designed a program that heralds the ongoing transformation of
America’s schools.
• We hope that this handbook provides a map for your journey through this
program.
5. Along the way, residents will work with a host of individuals
who have roles as mentor teachers, site coordinators, site
professors, and professors whose job is to help them grow and
develop.
From their first semester, residents will complete performance
based assessments designed to ensure that they are
progressing through the program.
Residents will spend 3 to 4 days per week in schools
throughout their program, working in urban schools that have
committed themselves as faculty and staff.
Everyone in the school is part of a learning experience not only
for the children who attend school but also for the residents
who are developing their identities, skills, dispositions, and
commitments to teaching students in our urban schools.
6. In this website you’ll learn about what lies in You’ll find information about schedules,
store for you. patterns for your participation at your PLS,
expectations for what you’ll accomplish each
semester, and information about the kind of
feedback you can expect as well as the way
that grades will be determined each semester.
7. We hope that you find this website useful throughout
your experience.
Feel free to be in touch with our project coordinator if
you think that something is missing from the handbook.
Your input is valued.
8. Above all, remember that this year will
be full of learning, about yourself, your
practice, your values, and your
commitment to teaching diverse
students who bring with them a wealth
of experience and knowledge that may
be very different from your own.
