California Lutheran University and Conejo Valley Unified School District have joined forces to pilot a professional development school.

The partnership, which began this fall, gives students in CLU's School of Education experience in a middle school classroom while providing Los Cerritos Middle School with additional resources.

CLU students earn teaching credentials working with teachers in their classrooms. Some of the university's courses will be taught at Los Cerritos, a California Distinguished School.

This format provides an opportunity for student teachers to see how theory and practice are interrelated. The partnership also helps CLU faculty by putting them back in touch with a classroom.

The middle school students benefit from higher adulttostudent ratios and the use of the latest researchbased teaching techniques.

"A professional development school is similar to the relationship found between teaching hospitals and medical schools," said Michael Cosenza, professional school in T.O.

development schools coordinator for the School of Education. "In a PDS, student teachers and undergraduate interns work for one or two semesters alongside a veteran cooperating teacher, giving them the opportunity to connect theory to practice."

Turning Technologies donated clicker equipment to CLU for use by the teachers and students in the PDS classroom at the school site. This modern technology allows the teacher to check for understanding and to immediately adjust instruction if students didn't understand a concept.