Teachers for a New Era

The Teachers for A New Era (TNE) project, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is designed to increase the quality of teaching in K-12 classrooms by improving the quality of teacher education programs and enhancing the position of teacher education at each participating TNE institution.

In 2003, UWM was selected as one of 11 universities nationwide to participate in the Teachers for a New Era program. UWM will receive $5 million over a five-year period from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and other funding agencies to support the program.

Design PrinciplesThe Teachers for a New Era project is organized by three design principles:

• Teacher education programs should be guided by a respect for evidence, including attention to pupil learning gains accomplished under the tutelage of teachers who are graduates of the program.
  
  
• Faculty in the disciplines of the arts and sciences should be fully engaged in the education of prospective teachers, especially in the areas of subject matter understanding and general and liberal education.
  
  
• Education should be understood as an academically taught clinical practice profession, requiring close cooperation between colleges of education and actual practicing schools; master teachers as clinical faculty in the college of education; and professional support for beginning teachers during the first two years of teaching experience (induction).

The UWM PlanUWM has created a plan that builds from these design principles. It is a plan to reinvigorate teacher preparation to educate a generation of teachers who are effective in urban schools.

 UWM's work will be undertaken in close collaboration and alignment with the Milwaukee Partnership Academy (MPA), which is the collaboration of UWM, Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) administration and school board, the Private Industry Council, the Metropolitan Association of Commerce, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Department of Public Instruction and other partners. The goal of the MPA is to ensure that every child achieve grade level or better performance in reading, writing and mathematics.

Linda Post, associate professor and chair of the UWM Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and Marleen Pugach, professor in the UWM Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Stephen Percy, Director, Center for Urban Initiatives and Research, and William Kean, Professor, Geosciences are principal investigators for this five year, $5 million initiative.

For more information about the TNE project, visit their Web site at http://www.tne-uwm.org/