On July 1st 2001, Center X and the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) joined forces to create a new Urban Teacher Education Collaborative. Generously funded for five years by the Stuart Foundation, the Collaborative brings together teacher educators, researchers, classroom teachers, and community members to help increase the supply, competence, and commitment of urban schoolteachers across the country. At the core of its work, the Collaborative will create innovative learning tools and apprenticeship opportunities that will facilitate the growth of Center X’s Teacher Education Program (TEP) and assist other programs in seeking to prepare committed and capable teachers for urban schools. The project is structured by five main components:
1. Instructional Case Studies: TEP Faculty Advisors engage in reflection and systematic inquiry about their practice with Case Study Specialist Camille Wilson Cooper in order to craft a series of 12 case narratives about TEP.
2. Urban Teacher Education Network (UTEN):
The UTEN connects UCLA Urban Schooling graduates who now hold faculty position
at prominent universities across the nation with each other and other prominent
education professors from around the country.
3. University Field Supervisors (UFS) Apprenticeship
Program: University Field Supervisors assist Faculty Advisors in supporting
novice teachers’ work in schools as preparation for becoming teacher
educators.
4. Urban Educator Network (UEN): UEN provides
both professional development and mentoring opportunities to graduates from
UCLA's TEP program.
5. Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination:
The UTEC researchers conduct policy-oriented research on the social benefits
of high-quality urban teacher education and ongoing professional development
and support.