Teachers for a New Era: Overview
The University of Washington is ready to renew the way it prepares teachers. The Teachers for a New Era program, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and other foundations, is intended to stimulate the development of exemplary teacher education programs at selected colleges and universities, and to assure the nation that colleges and universities are educating prospective teachers of the highest quality possible. The University of Washington is one of eleven institutions selected nationally to participate. The grant award is for $5 million over a five-year period (2003-2008), creating a new partnership between the College of Education (COE), the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), and P-12 partner schools.
The design principles of the program are: teacher education programs should be guided by a respect for evidence; arts and sciences faculty should be fully engaged in teacher preparation and support; and teaching should be understood as an academically taught clinical practice profession, requiring close cooperation between universities and P-12 schools in preparing teachers. To this end, the TNE grant creates the Washington Center for Teaching and Learning, a locus for project activities where all three partners can come together to collaborate on renewal and research activities.
To signal that teacher preparation is a campus-wide responsibility, overall leadership for TNE is vested in Vice-Provost Susan Jeffords. This ensures that central University administration is involved in creating the conditions for TNE to reach its goals.
For more information:
Contact Associate Project Director, Patrick Sexton at pgsexton@u.washington.edu