The Farmington Valley Transition Academy (FVTA) and the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions (ENHP) have collaborated in many ways over the past decade. The new agreement provides a structure that assures continued collaboration and expands upon academic initiatives in particular.
Specifically, FVTA and ENHP wish to collaborate on:
- Formalizing a lab school environment concurrently with any time period that the FVTA site remains on the University campus;
- Promoting best practices in special education in a community/school setting through the collaboration of ENHP and FVTA faculty and administration;
- Providing authentic experiences where teacher-candidates can actively engage in assessments, instruction, research, and professional collaboration;
- Initiating a Community of Practice model among ENHP faculty, teacher-candidates, and FVTA’s teachers and leaders to further build capacity to inform and improve educational practice;
- Establishing a regular meeting schedule to coordinate efforts, monitor progress, and nurture the overall efforts in the interest of educating and supporting special education professionals;
- Facilitating the placement of (a) University teacher-candidates into classrooms and course-related field work and (b) University undergraduate teacher-candidates and graduate students in field experiences and student teaching assignments at FVTA;
- Encouraging the collaboration of faculty and students on research projects through ENHP’s Institute of Translational Research;
- Including qualified clinical faculty from FVTA to teach in ENHP’s Department of Education;
- Establishing a year-end Community of Practice to share reports, research, and reflections with the faculty, teachers, and teacher-candidates to inform professional practice;
10. Encouraging the participation in ENHP’s Research Day in May of each year.
The agreement was formally signed on December 4, 2012 by University Provost Sharon L. Vasquez, Superintendent of Farmington Public Schools Kathleen C. Greider, and Superintendent of Simsbury Public Schools Matthew T. Curtis.
