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Vol. 1, No. 2, January 2013, pp. 97-102   

 

 
 
 
 
TRG/Western Kentucky University:  All University Collaboration Model 
 
Barbara Burch, Sam Evans, and David Lee 
Western Kentucky University 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

  



98     B. Burch, S. Evans and D. Lee 

 

TRG/Western Kentucky University:  All University Collaboration Model 
 
 As an institution built on the foundation of a Normal School, collaboration among faculty 
members and across program areas and academic units has been part of Western Kentucky 
University’s (WKU) heritage since 1906. In addition to the various collaborative initiatives 
across campus, there are a variety of initiatives that involve various agencies across the 
community, including ongoing partnerships with local and area school districts, P-16 Councils, 
and the Green River Region Educational Cooperative.  These collaborations have been enhanced, 
especially since the court decision resulting in Kentucky’s Educational Reform Act (KERA) in 
1990 (Rose v. Council, 1989).  In the early 1990’s the College of Education and Behavioral 
Sciences created the Task Force on Education Reform – High Schools and the Task Force on 
Research Based Instructional Strategies to facilitate institutional work relative to KERA.  Both 
Task Forces involved faculty from what is now the Ogden College of Science and Engineering 
and the Potter College of Arts and Letters. 
 In addition to the added focus on collaborative initiatives with the onset of KERA, WKU 
has had a tradition of hiring faculty members in content areas who have pedagogical 
backgrounds.  Not only has this facilitated collaborative efforts across the university, it has also 
strengthened our ability to bridge theory and application and to connect the on-campus learning 
opportunities with teacher candidate experiences in P-12 clinical settings.  The various 
collaborative initiatives are designed and implemented from a win-win perspective with credit 
going to the group rather than an individual unit or person.  Promotion and tenure expectations 
convey the value placed on collaborative initiatives and work with our P-12 and community 
partners. 
 Collaboration involves opportunities for success along with potential risks, with the 
absence of success often resulting in new ways of looking at our work and the creation of new 
collaborative efforts.  The following is a description of three collaborative efforts that have 
involved three colleges at WKU and community partners. 
 
STEM Initiatives 
 
 In an effort to increase the number of high quality teachers in the areas of mathematics 
and the sciences, WKU was successful in receiving an Exxon/Mobile award to replicate the 
UTeach model for educating STEM focused teachers at the Middle and Secondary levels.  Based 
on feedback from the reviewers of the application, it became apparent that one of the strengths of 
the proposal related to the strong collaboration between the College of Education and Behavioral 
Sciences and the Ogden of Science and Engineering.  The proposal development team was 
questioned as reviewers could not believe that the two colleges really worked so closely.   
 The UTeach replication model at the University of Texas at Austin at WKU is known as 
SKyTeach and is highly successful in attracting and matriculating individuals who have 
expressed a desire to make a difference in student learning in STEM (Science, Technology and 
Mathematics) areas.  While the program is unique, earlier collaborations strengthened WKU’s 
capacity to craft a successful proposal.  Many of the earlier collaborations were related to WKU 
involvement in Teachers for a New Era Learning Network (Poliakoff, Dailey, White, 2011) that  
involved participation by faculty members from across the university and the above-mentioned 
colleges.   Through our involvement in The Learning Network and critically looking at our 
programs to prepare educators across the various disciplines, proposals were written and funded 



All University Collaboration Model     99 

 

to not only review our curriculum but to develop innovative ways to prepare classroom teachers 
to make a difference in P-12 student learning. 
 Through a critical review of our STEM programs and the ability of our teachers to make 
a difference in student learning, one of the first gaps identified related to the capacity of 
elementary teachers in the areas of mathematics and science.  Pedagogical content courses were 
developed by faculty members and incorporated in a pilot master’s degree program.  While the 
pilot master’s degree program did not evolve into a new program, the collaborative efforts did 
encourage conversations about pedagogical graduate degrees related to content disciplines in 
Ogden College and influenced the conceptualization of the proposal resulting in our current 
SKyTeach program.  In addition to the work in the STEM areas, content faculty members in the 
disciplines aligned with the teaching of History and the Social Sciences began looking at their 
content courses relative to Kentucky’s standards and revisions were made in numerous courses.   
 The above work lead to a commitment to provide mentoring for new teachers and faculty 
members in the three colleges who were trained along with P-12 educators.  A task force was 
created that involved individuals from all constituent groups.  Unfortunately, state professional 
development funding for the participating school districts was significantly cut, and WKU was 
not able to fully implement the program.  However, the commitment that was developed among 
the faculty to provide quality mentoring programs is evident in the SKyTeach program.  
 WKU’s SKyTeach program has been highly successful with an enrollment of 
approximately 250 students seeking middle and high school certification in mathematics or 
various science disciplines.  Students complete a content area major along with a major in 
Science and Mathematics Education and are mentored in their pedagogy courses by the 
instructor of record and university-based master teachers.  Student feedback on experiences has 
been very positive as exemplified by the following comments provided by recent graduates:  “I 
not only grew conceptually, but I also was able to practice what I learned in an arena.”; “It 
teaches you not to be the typical teachers.”; and “It is all about the relationships.” (Mason, 2012). 
 Building on the SKyTeach Model, WKU applied for and received a U.S. Department of 
Education Title II Teacher Quality Partnership Award to develop and implement a graduate-level 
residency program in partnership with the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, 
KY.  Graduates of the program have a three-year commitment to the Jefferson County Public 
Schools; two cohorts of math, chemistry or physics teachers are currently employed by JCPS. 
 
Strings Program 
 
 Collaboration has also been at the heart of a very successful program in the performing 
arts that linked the WKU Music Department with area schools.  The department had tried 
unsuccessfully for years to develop a strings program.  In 2001, a local philanthropist endowed 
the conductor’s position for the university symphony.  The endowment carried the stipulation 
that the conductor must take an active role in developing strings education for young people in 
Bowling Green and Warren County, Kentucky.  After an extensive national search, the 
department hired a conductor with a strong background in public education as well as 
outstanding credentials as a musician.  Working with the university’s Division of Extended 
Learning and Outreach (DELO), the department created a partnership with the city school system 
and the county school system, offering strings education initially in the 4th grade and then adding 
a grade each year.  Simultaneously, DELO and the Music Department also created a pre-college 
strings program to give private lessons to individual students.   



100     B. Burch, S. Evans and D. Lee 

 

 The results are spectacular.  The original 4th graders are now seniors, and 25 have stayed 
with the program the entire time.  The city and county schools together now have 450 string 
students, and Bowling Green High School has more than 50 students in its orchestra.  While the 
systems originally contracted with WKU for instruction—providing valuable revenue to the 
Music Department--both the city and county have hired full-time string teachers, an impressive 
commitment at a time of shrinking budgets.  Simultaneously, the income from the program made 
it possible for the Music Department to begin to hire full-time faculty members.  Over the past 
several years, it has hired three full-time faculty members in strings, and the department is 
attracting majors in strings for the first time.   

In short, through a rather unique collaboration with two local school systems, the 
university was able to accomplish something that it had failed to achieve on its own.  Through 
pooled resources and common goals, we created shared success.  A generous donor and the 
university’s continuing education unit played very important roles as well, and the 
superintendents of the two school systems were willing to try a new idea and to adopt it broadly 
when it proved to be viable and a good thing for their students.   The result was a success story at 
a time when the arts often struggle in the public schools.  In the process, this partnership 
enriched the cultural life of our community, created a learning opportunity for hundreds of young 
people, established a new program at the university, and created five new full-time jobs in the 
arts.   
 
Literacy Initiative 
 
 The partnerships described above have provided both a strong foundation for WKU’s 
participation in College and Career Readiness initiatives with area schools and the 
implementation of professional development experiences for university faculty members.  As 
schools explore new ways of structuring student learning experiences and move toward a model 
of personalized learning, higher education must rethink its work in a way that will provide a 
seamless transition from high school. Much of the impetus for change at the postsecondary level 
resulted from the passage of Senate Bill 1, Education Assessment Act (2009) and Senate Bill 163 
Adolescent Reading Skills ACT (2009) which included specific mandates related but not limited 
to literacy, P-12 student learning standards educator preparation programs, and faculty teaching 
general education courses. 

With expectations that college students will be held accountable for their assignments, 
efforts have been made to provide faculty members with the necessary knowledge and skills 
relative to literacy.  Professional development opportunities have been provided by faculty 
members from the Literacy and Psychology programs for faculty in a variety of departments 
across campus including History, Chemistry, and Physics.  In addition to the focused 
professional development opportunities in previous years, WKU has made a commitment to 
provide professional development to all members of the faculty on the Common Core Standards 
for English Language Arts (Literacy) and Senate Bill 1 mandates during the 2012-2013 academic 
year. 
 
Looking to the Future 
 
 These three specific collaborative initiatives are indicative of the types of commitment 
that has long been present in our university.  However, it is not enough for those of us who are 



All University Collaboration Model     101 

 

dedicated to the business of educating educators and advancing the learning of all students to 
assume that these types of collaborative initiatives will be sufficient to meet the needs of schools 
in the future.  It is clear that elevating the status of the profession and further enhancing the 
quality of educator preparation will require even more intentional collaborations and partnering 
as we move forward.   The call for preparation programs to be more clinically based carries with 
it changing roles for university-based teacher educators – both in education schools as well as in 
other academic departments – and for our colleagues in the school practice sites.   
 One of the greatest barriers to achieving the kinds of partnerships essential to the work of 
teacher educators will be trying to find ways to establish new roles, recognition, and reward 
systems as well as new methods of accounting for work-time within the constraints and cultures 
of many of our institutions.  Partnerships require time and effort.  
 In 1986, the All-university Responsibility for Teacher Education Initiative was launched 
by the California State University System by then-Chancellor, W. Ann Reynolds.  The Initiative 
recognized both that 75-80% of the education of prospective teachers occurred through academic 
departments and that the issues surrounding the preparation of teachers could not be resolved 
without the university-wide efforts of faculty and administrators (Campus Progress Reports, 
1989).  While many campuses still espouse this philosophy and framework for teacher 
preparation, it is clear that current pressures shaping higher education institutions may make it 
increasingly difficult to effectively operationalize this philosophy.  Partnerships and clinical 
educator preparation take more resources than programs that are more heavily campus based.  
Such initiatives as Common Core State Standards (2010) make it even more compelling that 
teachers gain the content knowledge needed in their classrooms, and this classroom content may 
not always be the focus of the academic majors taken by prospective teachers.  Faculty members 
are also being continuously reminded of the need to find ways to “do more with less.”  In this 
environment, it may be very difficult, if not impossible, to gain the support needed to 
significantly enhance the clinical aspects of teacher education programs.  There will also have to 
be adaptations in criteria for tenure, promotion, and other recognition systems to support the 
work of university faculty who are engaged in the partnering required in extensive clinical 
delivery systems. 
 Embracing what we have learned from the partnerships that we have successfully created 
will be essential as we move forward to a future that demands more collaboration both across the 
university and with our school partners.  It may be that some of the most important initial 
partnering will come among the university-based educator preparation programs as they seek 
ways to support one another in shared efforts to expand partnerships and also achieve a 
university culture that will recognize, value, and assure that future partnerships can be sustained. 
  
  



102     B. Burch, S. Evans and D. Lee 

 

References 
 

Adolescent Reading Skills ACT, 2009 Kentucky General Assembly, SB01630.100.1732 (2009). 

Education Assessment ACT, 2009 Kentucky General Assembly, SB000120.100.803 (2009). 

Mason, C.  (2012, September 21)  $3M funds WKU’s SKyTeach program.  Daily News, p. 3A. 

National Governors association Center for Best Practices & Council of chief State School 

Officers. (2010).  Common core state standards.  Washington, DC:  Author. 

Poliakoff, A. R., Dailey, C. R., and White, R.  (2011).  Pursuing excellence in teacher 

preparation:  Evidence of institutional change from TNE Learning Network Universities.  

Washington, DC:  AED National Institute for Work and Learning. 

Reynolds, W. A.  (1986, March 1).  Requirements for admission to teacher education basic 

credential programs, student teaching, and university recommendations for a teaching 

credential, Executive Order No. 476.  Long Beach, CA:  Author. 

Rose v. Council for Better Education, Inc., 1989 

 
 

 


