MEDIA ALERT: UND celebrates first cohort in community teaching partnership
14 students will graduate from first UND-Grand Forks Public Schools Teaching & Leadership master’s program partnership
WHO: Educators and media welcome.
WHAT: “Grand Gathering No. 5: Research Showcase” for Master of Science in Teaching & Leadership Partnership.
WHEN: 5 to 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 16.
WHERE: UND Memorial Union, Henry Family Ballroom.
WHY: Celebrate the first class of “scholar-practitioners” in new UND program that’s helping to attract and retain highly qualified teachers in the Grand Forks Public School District.
MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Link, associate professor of UND’s Teaching & Leadership at laura.link@UND.edu or 701.777.5825.
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‘This is the first-ever UND-GFPS graduate partnership, which is extraordinary since both our learning organizations have worked side by side for well over a century.’ — Laura Link
About 100 educational leaders from UND and the Grand Forks Public School District will come together April 16 for the “Grand Gathering No. 5: Research Showcase” to celebrate this spring’s first graduating class of the UND-GFPS Teaching & Leadership master’s program partnership.
The event, which will feature a dinner and Research Showcase, will be from 5 to 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in the Henry Family Ballroom in UND’s Memorial Union.
“This partnership between UND and Grand Forks Public Schools represents education at its best — when theory meets practice in the same community,” said UND Associate Professor Laura Link, director and lead designer of the 30-credit Teaching & Leadership master’s program as well as the new Mastery Learning Graduate Certificate. “Having 14 dedicated GFPS teachers complete their master’s degrees together has created a powerful learning community that directly benefits our local Pre-K-12 students, and we’re so incredibly proud of this group of teacher-leaders.”
Fourteen teachers are set to complete the inaugural program this May.
Link, who’s done extensive research in grading practices and who wrote The Conversation article “Every teacher grades differently, which isn’t fair,” said the first-of-its-kind program is unlike any other in the state and maybe even the nation because it was designed to “purposefully address the School District’s priorities, build new teacher-leader pathways and collaboratively increase teacher retention.”
“The work of modern schools requires more leadership on deck in all capacities,” Link told UND Today at the kickoff gathering in November 2023. “This program recognizes that we need more school-based leadership roles than principal and assistant principal. We’re preparing our graduate students to lead as master teachers in their schools and in other innovative roles that maximize student and teacher learning.”
The grad students — representative of teachers in elementary, middle and high schools — took not only a comprehensive set of core classes in curriculum and instruction, but they also learned mastery skills in assessment, grading and reporting.
“Teachers spend more than a third of their time assessing and evaluating student work, yet there’s usually little to no university training in this area, leaving K-12 educators to figure it out on their own until now,” Link said. “We reshaped our core curriculum to prepare our students for the entire continuum of teaching and learning — from curriculum through grading and reporting. We reshaped our core classes to meet that vision.”
Educators say the ongoing partnership is a win-win for UND and Grand Forks Public Schools. Not only are the working grad student-educators able to earn stacked credentials at a discount, they’re also creating a pipeline of experienced leaders to help boost teacher retention during a time of unprecedented teacher shortages nationwide. Students in the program sign a memorandum of understanding to serve within the district for three years after graduation.
What’s in store for April 16 gathering
Link will share opening remarks, along with UND President Andy Armacost and UND Provost Eric Link. Grand Forks Public Schools Superintendent Terry Brenner and UND College of Education & Human Development Dean Shelbie Witte will share some partnership perspectives.
Rob Stupnisky, associate dean of Research & Faculty Development for the College of Education & Human Development, will introduce the Research Showcase in which the graduate students will share their research highlights and implications for classroom practice.
“These 14 educators have tackled real problems of practice throughout their coursework. By grounding their master’s research in the specific needs of our Grand Forks students, they’ve created actionable solutions that make an immediate difference in our schools,” Link said. “April 16 marks not just a culmination but a powerful moment of community transformation. As these educators celebrate their achievements, we’re already looking forward to our second cohort beginning in fall 2025. Many students from the incoming class of 20 will join us on April 16 to witness this milestone, helping them begin their journey with the end clearly in mind.”
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