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Friday, June 4, 2010

Teacher Educator Programs That Work

Two Programs That Work

Center X

The Center X program at the University of California at Los Angeles is a two-year program that prepares future educators for California's racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse children. In this post baccalaureate program, Center X's teacher candidates, who already have a college major, must complete a program that includes at least four connected courses in literacy (with an emphasis on second-language learners).

The program's second-year residency is a paid teaching assignment that has many of the characteristics of an apprenticeship. For example, the culminating exam is an extensive research project that can focus on how a teacher intern has come to know how to assess student learning and work effectively in a low-income school community. UCLA offers a significant induction program for its graduates, providing a variety of opportunities to continue their learning. Since its inception in 1995, Center X has attracted racially and ethnically diverse candidates, and two-thirds of its current students are members of an ethnic minority. More than 1,200 teachers have graduated from the program, and an ongoing assessment reveals that only 10 percent of graduates leave teaching after three years, compared to more than half in most other urban schools.

The Academy for Urban School Leadership

Chicago's Academy for Urban School Leadership recognizes the importance of seriously preparing prospective teachers for the challenges they will face in urban school settings. Founded by prominent Windy City business and civic leaders, the AUSL offers a $30,000 salary and a tuition-free master's degree in teaching to talented recent college graduates and mid-career professionals who commit to teach in the city schools for five years. Recruits complete a twelve-month leadership-development and teacher-preparation program that includes graduate-level coursework and a ten-month teaching residency.

During their residency, AUSL students learn how to develop standards-based lessons and build assessments that allow them to more fully understand how students learn. They participate in daily grade-level team meetings and work with parents and families to build their personal leadership capacity. They are challenged to take on an increasing amount of responsibility, culminating in designing, preparing, and implementing curriculum units. And though the residents' "home school" is a well-designed, high-functioning inner city school, they have structured mini-internships in some of Chicago's most challenging neighborhood schools in order to prepare them for the teaching and leadership obstacles they will face once they begin teaching.

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