Texas Tech University has received $9.1 million to expand their National Teacher Prep Center. This new funding allows the Renewal of Educator Preparation National Center (US PREP) to partner with 16 schools and universities throughout the US to reinforce the teacher talent pipelines that are preparing future teachers for a diverse classroom. Currently the coalition prepares over 5,000 future educators each year with innovative training methods that were developed and are implemented at Texas Tech. Although primarily based in the Southern and Midwestern United States they are now able to reach the east and west coasts.
US PREP began in 2015 spreading to Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. The second row of cohorts will have partnerships in Texas, New York and California. New York schools included in the expansion include CUNY’s Lehman College and Brooklyn College, and Touro College.
"Our goal is to prepare qualified and caring teachers to teach our students effectively in New York City, and the Bronx in particular, who mostly come from ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse families with low socio-economic status," said Quian Gaoyin, interim dean of the School of Education at Lehman College. "We are confident that US PREP will help us accomplish this goal."
In California, San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of the Pacific have partnered with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) and one other yet to be disclosed school.
"UTSA aspires to be a nationally recognized teacher preparation program, specifically for the ever-changing student population," said Belinda Flores, associate dean of professional preparation, assessment and accreditation at the College of Education and Human Development at UTSA. "Partnering with US PREP will provide UTSA the guidance needed to achieve our goal of becoming a model for other programs to emulate."
The continued growth of the expansion comes mostly from a $7.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helping US PREP reach almost $20 million since the center was established in November 2015.
Photo Courtesy of Texas Tech University’s Facebook Page
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