The Urban Teacher Partnership (UTP) — Preparing Effective Teachers for Urban Schools

Residency: Instead of studying about differing cultures, the UTP students study from within the cultural settings of the schools and their surrounding communities. UTP is a two-year preparation program.

• First year: interested pre-service students may explore opportunities for professional teaching practice in urban schools and build a portfolio of their experiences (including field experiences in urban schools, providing tutoring support to high-need students, active participation in special workshops/seminars examining strategies that address student learning needs).
• Second year: students who have demonstrated deep commitment to and understanding of ensuring student success are selected as CUE Fellows and enter a high quality one-year undergraduate residency program that will take place within the Zone where pre-service students are immersed in the culture of the schools and their surrounding communities and the residency experiences and curricula have an explicit urban purpose.

Curricula: The urban-focused curricula reflects targeted and identified requirements for effective and successful teaching in urban and high-needs schools; pre-service students learn and work in Zone schools and community-based organizations.

Induction, Mentoring and Professional Development Support: CUE is developing collaborative induction and mentoring programs for new teachers (first three years of practice) in the Zone schools that will guide them toward becoming effective teacher leaders who will support their school sites and build learning communities. In addition, CUE's deep presence in the Zone schools creates opportunities for college professors and Zone teachers to collaborate on quality teacher professional development and student support services customized to the needs of teaching and learning in the schools.