UMass Boston Teacher "Pipeline" Plan to Be Announced At Meeting Today with Boston, Cambridge, & Somerville Superintendents

(Boston, MA) - Public schools in Massachusetts and nationally are confronting the need to recruit teachers of the highest caliber to meet the growing demand for a new teaching workforce. Preparing good teachers is critical, and so is retaining them, since 44% of teachers currently hired each year in urban public schools leave the profession within three years. Linkages with higher education institutions to develop effective approaches to teacher preparation and teacher retention are central to meeting this need.

In response to this need, UMass Boston Chancellor Jo Ann Gora will host a meeting with the mayors, superintendents, school principals, and school committee chairs from Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, March 4th, to announce a new initiative to improve both the quality of urban teachers and the longevity of their tenure. The meeting will take place in the Chancellor's Conference Room, 4th Floor, Quinn Administration Building, UMass Boston.

Combining monies from a Great Cities Universities grant and the university's own resources, UMass Boston, through its Graduate College of Education, will create a "pipeline" planned to channel a stream of highly qualified teachers, committed to teaching, particularly in the areas of math and science, bilingual education, and special education, into the local urban public schools.

At the beginning of the pipeline, UMass Boston will advise and recruit the best-qualified high schoolers from Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville and encourage them to take advantage of the state-wide scholarship program "Tomorrow's Teachers," through which the costs of their undergraduate education will be fully paid. Upon graduating, the scholarship students with a 3.3 cumulative average or higher, along with any other bachelor's degree holders with a minimum 3.3 GPA interested in urban teaching, will be eligible to apply for a new UMass Boston scholarship to cover full tuition and fees at the master's degree level. Upon entering the graduate program, scholarship recipients must make a commitment to teach for a minimum of three years in urban schools. To assist and retain these teachers Gora's pipeline program will include counseling, seminars, a special website with chat rooms, networking opportunities, and mentoring opportunities. The pipeline program will also help to ensure that these urban teachers receive their National Professional Standards Board Certification.

Gora's new initiative builds upon the strong track record of UMass Boston's Graduate College of Education in preparing teachers and administrators to work in urban schools. The university has secured strong relationships with the public schools in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. In particular, both Boston and Somerville serve as sites for "professional development schools." These offer a unique model of training and learning, placing students directly into the field, where they become totally integrated into the school system.

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Media are Welcome
3/4/02

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