DUC PT3 Grant Partners and Sites
An important result of the PT3 Program has been the establishment of key partnerships with the county offices of education and school districts in the Dominican service area including the Novato Unified School District, http://nusd.org/.
Additional partnerships with organizations such as the Novato Public Access Television station, http://www.npat.org/; the Bay Model Association, http://www.baymodel.org/, its affiliated project, The Jason Project, http://www.jasonproject.org/ and Soroptimist International of Novato, http://www.soroptimist.org/, have created new opportunities for community based education activities involving the University.
Collaboration with partners beyond the campus of the University has also been an important factor in creating a sustainable program. Marin County Education and non-profit organizations have played key roles in developing the PT3 program.
The cooperative spirit engendered by the PT3 project has made a significant impact upon the Division of Education and Dominican University of California as a whole.
From day one, the PT3 team has had the benefit of strong support from its community partners. The Dominican credential program has always been dependent upon close ties to the schools and districts within its service area. These ties have been strengthened as university student teachers and graduates demonstrate new awareness and skill using educational technology.
Partnerships
-Dominican University of CA, Division of Education: Since the beginning, the PT3 team has been a collaborative effort. Infusing technology into the Division of Education program has required the team members to work closely with key decision makers involved in the Education program. The Dean of the School of Business, Education, and Leadership; Program Chairs in the Division of Education and full time faculty and adjuncts have been responsible for delivering the program to the students. The team has sought the advice of all of the stakeholders involved in advancing the program, including the credential analyst, the administrative assistant to the Dean and other key Dominican University of CA staff members.
Student needs have been analyzed through comprehensive surveys of technical skills and feedback from Using Technology in the Classroom sessions. Technical issues have been solved by working closely with the Dominican Information Technology Department and through Dominican Library Services. Collaboration with the University at large has been fostered through work with CLIENT (Collaboration, Learning, Innovative Education, New Technologies) the campus wide technology service provider, who has worked as a full partner during the life of the grant. Adapted from PT3 video New Horizons: The Legacy of PT3, 2003, Will Fowler.
-Novato Unified School District: Novato Unified School District continues its long association with Dominican University of California's Division of Education in supporting both pre-service and in-service teacher education. The NUSD partnership in teacher preparation spans more than 20 years, with classroom teachers playing an ongoing and active role in coordinating and supervising new teacher training.
Additionally, NUSD has partnered with the Division of Education in supporting two educational technology professional development state grants. Dominican University of CA is also listed as a partner with Novato District's Enhancing Education Through Technology grant (EETT) providing technology workshops for middle school teacher leaders.
Novato is currently focusing district-wide on data driven decision making at the classroom level, developing new tools for teacher access to student data. Data bases created as interactive web forms allow teachers access to a wide range of individual statistics from state and local measurements of student achievement. These systems will deliver achievement data on individuals, students, cohorts, and subgroups to the teachers' desktop computers.
-Novato Public Access Television: The Novato Public Access Television (NPAT) education channel is an existing partner with Dominican University of California's Division of Education, providing training, studio facilities and the opportunity for dissemination of project results through cable television.
An important partnership throughout the grant's lifetime has been an alliance with Novato Public Access Television (NPAT). This collaboration has brought professional expertise and training in digital video to the Dominican campus, and has been invaluable in areas of technical support.
Novato Public Access Television Station and Soroptimist Partnerships
More importantly, the Public Access station has given the PT3 team an outlet for delivering its message to the community, through a regularly scheduled broadcast sponsored by another key partner, Soroptomist International of Novato. NPAT will continue its relationship with Dominican University of CA beyond the life of the grant and will continue to assist the University in the development of digital video systems and in creating a sounding board for the community. Adapted from PT3 video New Horizons: The Legacy of PT3, 2003, Will Fowler.
-Bay Model Association: During the development of the PT3 program, Dominican University of California's Division of Education gained an important new partner The Bay Model Association, in Sausalito, California. The Bay Model is a leader in environmental education and hands-on science activities for young people. Adapted from PT3 video New Horizons: The Legacy of PT3, 2003, Will Fowler.
The Bay Model Association is a research facility managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of studying issues related to the health of the San Francisco Bay. Through BMA an active education component allows K-12 students the opportunities to explore many aspects of the research center. Two of its projects, the JASON Project and Project TransQuest are well known for the high levels of technology integration in each project.
The JASON Project takes Bay Area students and teachers on virtual scientific expeditions to work with scientists in biomes around the world. It also takes them up into local creeks to study macroinvertebrates and record water quality data on the North Bay Riparian Station website. Through Project TransQuest local classrooms sail aboard a research vessel in San Francisco Bay to study a number of subjects including history, art, engineering and science.
JASON Project Teacher Sarah Zykanov
-Soroptimist International of Novato: Soroptimist International of the Americas is a volunteer service organization for women in business, management and the professions. Soroptimist International of the Americas is part of Soroptimist International, comprising almost 100,000 members in about 120 countries around the world.The first Soroptimist club was formed in 1921 by a group of 80 women in Oakland, Alameda County, California. They chose their name from two Latin words meaning "best for women."
Soroptimists today continue the work begun by their predecessors. The heart of Soroptimist's mission is to "make a difference for women" through volunteer service to the community. Projects are carefully chosen to address challenges unique to today's women. Sample club projects include providing minority women with routine medical care, funding domestic violence shelters, sponsoring career development programs for teen mothers, and tutoring women in literacy and basic job skills.
Soroptimist and Novato Public Access Television Station Partnerships
Soroptimist's International Novato Chapter works closely with Dominican University of California's Division of Education, producing four public access television shows each year detailing advances in education.
