PROGRAM BENEFITS

RATIONALE

Urban schools are plagued with issues that simply do not exist in suburban schools: high student turnover, high teacher turnover, low test scores, problems with discipline and violence that often thwart the learning of all students, minimal family and community involvement, and difficulties in making connections between home and school. At the same time, the majority of teachers hired for urban settings are from backgrounds that have little resemblance to those of the students they are asked to teach.

In most universities, beginning teachers are trained in a variety of settings where strong mentor teachers are available to guide their induction. These strong mentoring teachers are often located in suburban and rural schools. However, when beginning teachers enter their own professional careers, they are often placed in the most difficult classrooms within the most difficult schools. In most cases, these are urban schools. Teachers who have been trained in suburban schools are constantly faced with the reality shock of finding themselves in a situation they were not adequately prepared to handle.

The discrepancy between the learning to teach and beginning to teach settings raises several issues that universities across the nation are realizing the need to address. First, it is critical to identify a cadre of strong “urban” mentors who can help universities prepare beginning teachers for the classroom realities they will inevitably face. Second, if educators are committed to “raising the bar” for urban student performance, there must be greater collaboration among educators from all fields in finding ways to improve both teaching and learning. Third, every urban teacher must develop an understanding of the needs of diverse student populations and the various avenues available to them to address these needs (e.g., classroom, special education, human services). Urban teachers, novice or experienced, must develop a repertoire of strategies that they can use to assure student success and to induct beginning teachers who will also be successful in helping urban children achieve their potential. Finally, if all beginning teachers were exposed to some level of urban experience, the transition between pre-service and in-service teaching would be facilitated.

This is the conceptual model upon which the URBAN IMPACT grant was written. First year planning activities for the grant, involving UT COE faculty, Arts and Sciences faculty, and Knox County Schools teachers and administrators, have indicated a need to identify and develop such a cadre of urban specialists who could ultimately assume a leadership role in inducting beginning teachers and bolstering the performance of those having difficulty teaching in urban settings. With funding from URBAN IMPACT, a U.S. Dept. or Education Title II Teacher Quality Enhanchement Grant, approximately 25 teachers per year for the next three years (beginning in 2001) could participate in a two year Urban Specialist Certificate Program. This program will provide them with a certificate that will be recognized by Knox County Schools as a vehicle for their assuming teacher leadership roles through the Teacher Center. Knox County administrators, including the Director of the Teacher Center, are willing to assist UT faculty in designing coursework as well as leadership activities for the participants. Initial discussions with the TN SDE also indicates their willingness to look at the program to determine if it is something that should be replicated across the state in considering ways to compensate urban teachers for their expertise and impact. As part of our commitment to assuring the value of this certificate, participants will be expected to develop artifacts and performance assessments that would prepare them for National Teacher Board Certification.

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PARTICIPANTS

Teachers who are currently teaching and are committed to teaching in urban schools are encouraged to apply for the URBAN SPECIALIST program and will submit an application and agree to an interview. A panel of UT and Knox County Schools administrators will select each year’s cohort of approximately 20 participants. This program will only be available to teachers currently teaching in urban settings. This is designed to encourage strong teachers to consider working in urban schools and to provide leadership opportunities for the dedicated professionals who have made a commitment to remaining in the most difficult teaching contexts.

Graduates of the first cohort of Urban Specialists are:

Left to right: Steve Duncan (Dogwood Elementary), Leslie Suters (Urban Specialist Graduate Teaching Assistant), Mary Jane Kirkham (Fulton High School), Daphne Odom (Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy), Merrie Murray (West High School), Joyce Howard (Vine Middle School), Brian Paschal (South Doyle M.S.) Cheryl Robertson (Vince M.S.), Dr. John Koontz (Interim Dean, UT College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences), Angie Lamon (Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy), Amy Brace (Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy), Dr. Charles Linsdey (Superintendent, Knox County Schools), Vicke Pyles (Northwest M.S.), Leslie Smith (Green Magnet), Mary Humphrey (West High School), Jennifer Lubke (Fulton High School), Vicki Wells (Dogwood Elementary), Andrea Mitchell (Christenberry Elementary), Ellen Hatcher (Christenberry Elementary), and Cheryl Kershaw (UT, URBAN IMPACT director)

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