About Urban Teacher Partnership
Our History:
Focus Teacher Preparation on the Needs in Urban Schools
Since 2004, Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) has been engaged in a comprehensive effort to prepare secondary education teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of uban middle and high school students. Through the Urban Teacher Partnership (UTP), MSCD and the Denver Public Scho
ols (DPS), linked the college's teacher preparation program with the district's curriculum in four content areas: math, science, English and social studies. In addition, as part of this two-year preparation program, UTP pre-service students conduct 180 hours of field experiences (including classroom observations, small group teaching, one-on-one tutoring, test monitoring, and other teacher practices) in high-needs urban middle and high schools across the district prior to their semester-long student teaching assignments. Recent external evaluations of the UTP program indicate success, especially in providing developing teachers early exposure to large urban school and student communities, classroom conditions and teaching practices. Additionally, the experiences and relationships that pre-service students established with school personnel enhanced their understanding of the educational needs of children and created opportunities for teaching in urban schools.
Formative Analysis and Refinements Focused on Needy Children
In 2008, Metro State faculty and DPS teachers began a design process analyzing our current UTP program with a focus on how our programmatic role to prepare urban teachers could ensure the educational success of children in the highest needs schools. The design group suggested that we target the preparation of urban teachers in one area of the city (the northwest sector of DPS) and a consortium of “feeder” schools (later called the P-16 Zone for Student Achievement). The proximity of this neighborhood to our campus and a concentrated geographical environment would allow Metro faculty and pre-service students to work in close collaboration with leaders, teachers and students in the schools and across community-based organizations. As an authentic partnership, our collective goals would be to build the knowledge and pedagogical skills of teachers entering high-need schools, as well as develop strategies to ensure the educational success of the schools’ children as they develop and matriculate – early learning, elementary, middle, high school and into and through college. This new design will be launched as the Center for Urban Education (CUE) in Fall 2010.