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Urban School Districts Tap into Young People's Passion to Teach
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 Grants
Awarded to Establish Nine High School Teaching Career Academies
Belmont, MA - November 15, 2000 - While schools nationwide continue
to struggle to find the qualified teachers they need--offering lucrative
incentives from signing bonuses and housing loans to on-site child
care and mentoring programs for new teachers--a growing movement
in urban high schools is taking hold to "grow their own"
teachers. These teacher recruitment programs aim to capture the
early interest middle and high school students have in working with
children and encourage them to choose teaching as a profession.
Today, Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. (RNT) and the Council of the
Great City Schools awarded $25,000 grants, as part of the Urban
Teacher Academy Project (UTAP), to nine urban school districts to
develop high school teaching career academies. As part of the grant,
the school districts will design programs that tap into a pool of
middle and high school students who express an early interest in
the teaching profession.
"Introducing middle and high school students to the rewards
and challenges of the teaching profession may help them make the
decision to teach," said Mildred Hudson, CEO of Recruiting
New Teachers, Inc. "The so-called precollegiate teacher recruitment
programs show a great deal of promise in expanding the pool of talented,
and often underrepresented, individuals entering teaching."
While thirty-six urban districts submitted proposals, only nine
districts in partnership with a local college or university were
selected to receive planning grants to develop high school teaching
career academies. In addition to planning grant funds, the grantees
will receive technical assistance, opportunities to network with
other grantees, and materials and resources to design an effective
teacher academy plan. The grantees include:
* Broward County Public Schools/The Broward County Educational
Consortium
* Des Moines Independent Community School District/ Drake University,
Grand View College, Des Moines Area Community College
* New York City Community School District 4/Hunter College School
of Education
* New Orleans Public Schools/University of New Orleans, Xavier
University, Dillard University, Southern University
* St. Louis Public Schools/Harris-Stowe State College, Maryville
University
* St. Paul Central High School/Hamline University, University
of Wisconsin-River Falls
* Salt Lake City School District/Westminster College, University
of Utah
* San Francisco Unified School District/San Francisco State University
* Tucson Unified School District/University of Arizona, Pima Community
College
"High school teaching career academies give students a chance
to explore a career that needs them now more than ever," said
Michael Casserly, president of the Council of the Great City Schools.
"These programs are also one of the strategies that some of
the Great City school districts are using to help low-income and
children of color make the transition into higher education."
Although there are many types of precollegiate programs, including
after-school clubs, courses, tutoring opportunities, and others,
research suggests that the more intensive teacher academy/magnet
programs are more likely to transition students into higher education
and the teaching profession.
According to research done by the Urban Teacher Academy Project,
there are approximately 50 teacher academy programs in the country.
These programs reach thousands of students each year, offering positive
images of teaching, practical teaching experience, and opportunities
to begin on a path to college and a career in teaching.
Not only do precollegiate teacher recruitment programs offer new
career opportunities to low-income children of color, they hold
promise of increasing teacher diversity for the next generation.
The Urban Teacher Academy Project's (1999) national survey of teacher
academies/magnets indicated that programs had a 67 percent minority
participation rate--over four times the comparable rate in teaching
today.
The Urban Teacher Academy Project (UTAP), which was funded by a
grant by the U.S. Department of Education, is a partnership between
Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. and the Council of the Great City
Schools. For more information contact Anne Berrigan, (617) 489-6000,
or Dr. Shirley Schwartz (202-393-2427) at the Council of the Great
City Schools.
http://www.recruitingteachers.org/channels/clearinghouse/audience/media/1g15_media_pressinnovativeprograms.htm
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