Urban Teacher Education part of the Education Reform Network

Meeting critical needs

• A Guide to Developing Paraeducator-to-Teacher Programs
  Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization formed in 1986 to raise esteem for teaching, expand the pool of prospective teachers, and improve the nation's teacher recruitment, development, and diversity policies and practices.
• Alternative Certification Program
  The program is a collaborative effort between the Hamilton County Schools and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga specifically designed to meet areas of critical teaching shortage in the Hamilton County Schools. Individuals who have earned a bachelor's degree in math, science, foreign language, or have content courses applicable for special education may become licensed to teach in an accelerated and supported cohort program.
• Alternative Teacher Program Trains Hundreds in Ga.
  An alternative teacher-preparation program piloted in Georgia intended to yield 200 applicants, drew thousands of inquiries, overwhelming and delighting administrators trying to alleviate a severe teacher shortage.
• On-The-Job Urban School Teacher Preparation Program
  A partnership program between the California State University, Northridge and the Los Angeles Unified School District to address the critical shortage of fully certified special education teachers and the need for alternative preparation programs to prepare on-the-job teachers. The program was designed to develop teacher competencies specific to serving urban students with special needs.
• PEF and Osborne Foundation Implement Urban Masters Program
  The Osborne Foundation has awarded $1.5 million to the Public Education Foundation (PEF) to implement a master's degree program for urban educators. The PEF, who will raise an additional $500,000 for the project, will coordinate the Osborne Fellows Project.
• The Future Teacher Institute. Promising Practices, The Nation's Voice for Urban Education, Council of Great City School.
  The Future Teacher Institute (FTI) is a minority teacher recruitment model which was initiated and field-tested at the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) over a five-year period. The major goal of the FTI is to involve promising minority high school students in a direct teaching/learning experience in order to increase the likelihood that they will eventually choose a career in education.
• Urban Districts Employing More Aggressive Hiring Tactics
  Urban districts have had to get smarter about the tactics they employ to recruit teachers.
• Urban Teacher Academy Project (UTAP)
  This site is designed to help school districts and schools, colleges, and departments of education learn about high school teaching career academies -- programs that encourage high school students to consider careers in teaching.
• Who is prepared to teach in urban schools?
  The article examines the hypothesis that alternative routes to teacher certification are more likely than traditional routes to recruit successful urban school teachers. Beliefs and practices of 45 secondary English and mathematics novice teachers from bo th routes were studied.