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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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