It’s not just the size of the BYU–Public School Partnership that makes it unique, although the partnership’s schools educate more than 30 percent of Utah’s P–12 students. And it’s not just its longevity, although it has endured—and flourished—for four decades and counting.
What makes the partnership truly unique is the commitment of each member to our shared work. That commitment has fueled us all along, creating an atmosphere of trust, respect, renewal, and ever-deepening relationships. It’s a society of mutual benefit: McKay School professors and other BYU-based partners pursue meaningful research with real-world impacts; teachers, school leaders, and other professionals receive professional preparation and ongoing development; and students and their families reap the benefits of the research, the preparation, and the ethos of cooperation and community that those efforts create.
At the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES)—the operational arm of the partnership housed in the McKay School—that ethos is an outward manifestation of our spiritual belief in the value of community. It is experiential learning for everyone—on a massive scale. Here are five perspectives—from five key contributors to CITES—on the commitments that bind us together, propel our ongoing work, and inspire our future efforts.
See the below links for our five articles highlighting CITES' participation in the BYU–Public School Partnership:
Civic Preparation and Engagement: Creating Citizens Who Sustain a Healthy Democracy
Engaged Learning Through Nurturing Pedagogy
What Do We Mean by "Access to Knowledge?"