UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Provides multiple placements for USC practicum students and teacher candidates each semester. The USC Liaison and school-based Clinical Adjunct observe teacher candidates on a regular basis and provide them with detailed feedback sessions so that they continue to grow throughout their time in the school. We also provide "Dine-and-Dish" meetings for all teacher candidates, covering such topics as starting the school year out right, IEPs, discipline, what to do and what not to do, and the job search. The USC liaison provides on-site ADEPT training for all new coaching teachers and visits coaching teachers regularly to offer support.

Collaborated to relocate the USC Secondary English Methods course to the Dreher campus so that teacher candidates have more hands-on, real-world interaction with students, benefiting both the teacher candidates and the students at Dreher

Re-designed the EDTE402/EDTE 402P clinical experience for Fall 2010 to strengthen the connections between teacher education coursework and the school-based practicum experience.

Dreher’s assistant principal, Roy Blakeney, has served as a speaker for multiple USC teacher candidate cohorts on topics such as classroom management and interviewing.  We also provide mock-interviews for all teacher candidates.

Hired numerous teacher candidates as regular faculty and as highly qualified substitute teachers directly upon completion of their student teaching experience.

Participated in planning sessions between USC secondary education faculty and PDS Liaisons to discuss how we could work together more successfully.

Worked with USC’s secondary mathematics professor, Dr. Jan Yow, to write a grant proposal to provide continued training to mathematics education students during the early years of teaching after graduation.

Connected Dreher science teacher Ned Nance with the USC science departments to try to recruit science majors into careers in education.

Partnered with USC faculty to do research regarding the 2008 election.

Provided on-site information sessions for candidates interviewing for full-time tenure-track faculty positions at USC.

Instituted the Jump Start program, a grass roots professional development initiative that began when the Dreher/USC PDS leadership team met with first year teachers and sought out feedback on how to make their jobs easier. From this initial meeting, we had an experienced Dreher teacher give a well-received talk on assertive discipline.  In addition, first year teachers now have a separate orientation and receive additional support all year long from our USC PDS Liaison.  Knowing that discipline is the #1 concern for first-year teachers, Dreher’s first year teachers report all discipline matters to Roy Blakeney, Drehrr assistant principal and primary PDS contact, so that he may deal with the issues immediately and conference with the teacher in an effort to emphasize preventive discipline. 

Actively engaged in the High Schools That Work initiative, with USC’s Executive Director of School-University Partnerships and Clinical Experiences, Dr. Bruce Field, serving on the visitation team.

Hosts South Carolina Network for Educational Renewal (SCNER) meetings. As part of the SCNER initiative, completed a research project linking teacher candidate dispositions across the state of South Carolina to the four Moral Dimensions of the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER). Roy Blakeney, Dreher assistant principal, currently serves as chair of the SCNER.

Hosted teachers from Norway and Russia who were studying the American education system and participated in the tour of German Exchange participants.