UTEACH Is Transforming Teacher Preparation In North Texas

A special event was held today at the Perot Museum of Science and Nature celebrating the impact of the UTeach program on education in the DFW area. The three UTeach programs in the North Texas region have experienced rapid growth in recent years:
 
•UTeach Dallas at UTD has grown from 24 students the first semester to its current 350 students, a 1350 percent increase.   Recent graduates are all employed in school systems or science learning centers or have gone on the graduate school.  The 100-plus graduates since the program’s inception could potentially impact about 79,000 middle and high school students by 2019.
•UNT’s Teach North Texas enrollment has experienced similar growth, with 288 students currently enrolled.  Program graduates are teaching secondary math or secondary science in North Texas schools, many in the Fort Worth, Mid-Cities and Denton area as well as Dallas schools.  It is expected that 100 students will have graduated from the UNT program by next year, providing an infusion of teachers with deep content knowledge in math and science for the area.
•UT Arlington’s UTeach program was launched in 2010 with 90 freshmen and has proved to be phenomenally successful, growing to 361 students in Fall of 2012. The first UTeach Arlington graduates will receive their diplomas in May 2014. Approximately 50 students are on track to be in the inaugural UTeach Arlington graduating class.
 
There are a total of eight UTeach sites in Texas, including the original UT Austin program. Those programs are expected to produce 5,796 graduates by 2020. It is projected that graduates of these programs will teach approximately two million secondary students by 2020.
 
 
 
Core elements of the UTeach program include:
 
 
•Active recruitment and incentives, such as offering the first two courses for free.
•A compact degree program that allows students to graduate in four years with both a degree and teaching certification.
•A strong focus on acquiring deep content knowledge in math and science, in addition to research-based teaching strategies focusing on teaching and learning math and science.
•Early and intensive field teaching experience, beginning in the UTeach students’ first semester.
•Personal guidance from experienced master teachers, faculty and public school teachers.
 
Here is what leaders of UTeach programs in North Texas had to say about the impact of the highly successful teacher training program at the press conference announcing $12 million in challenge grants Wednesday, April 3:
 
"Improving the quality of math and science teachers in Texas is a key step toward building a better-educated, technically savvy workforce, one with the skills necessary to fill – and create – jobs in a technology-driven society.”  
 — Dr. Mary Urquhart, Co-Director of UTeach Dallas and
 Head of the Department of Science and Mathematics Education
 
University of Texas at Dallas
 
"Our overarching goal is to produce many high-quality teachers of secondary math and science who get employed in the school districts of north Texas. We are heartened to hear that our alumni are doing a great job and are well-prepared for the profession from high school teachers and department chairs as well as campus and district administrators.”  
— Dr. John Quintanilla, Co-Director of Teach North Texas and
 University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Mathematics
 University of North Texas
 
 
 
 
 "UTeach Arlington pairs the UTeach model with a strong collaboration between the University’s College of Education and Health Professions and College of Science. This combination ensures that our students develop both strong content knowledge in their disciplines and effective skills for teaching science and mathematics to secondary school students.” 
 
— Ann Cavallo, Co-Director of UTeach Arlington and
 
Professor of Science Education
 
University of Texas at Arlington