Why should I consider becoming a classroom teacher at a "high-needs" school?

• There is a substantial "teacher shortage" in the U.S.A. - especially in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
• Students in "high needs" school districts deserve "highly qualified teachers"
• "Teachers Make A Difference" - Why One Career-Changer Decided to Become a Teacher-Candidate in the New Bedford Public Schools - a TEACH! SouthCoast Documentary Video

Beginning with Cohort I in the Fall of 2008, our TEACH! UrbanSouth teacher-candidates have worked in research groups annually in order to explore various aspects of secondary education in urban settings in southeastern Massachusetts.  Please watch and listen to our students' personal experiences in high-need schools and why they chose to become "urban educators."

• is an accelerated (one year) initial license program.  At the end of 12 months, you will have completed 70% of the coursework leading to a Master of Arts in Teaching degree.

• is a site-based program, situated in the Brockton and Taunton Public Schools, yet open to teacher-candidates from school districts throughout southeast Massachusetts, the Cape and Islands.

• is a cohort-model program.  Research has shown that students working within a professional learning community via a cohort achieve greater academic success on average than do students who work through academic programs independently.

• is a cost-effective model in that your student tuition and fees also covers instructional materials in most courses (books), technology [TaskStream and Video Analysis Tool (VAT) subscriptions], mentoring and professional development.

• is one of five sites in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts involved in a national pilot project with Stanford University researchers, known as the Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium (TPAC).

• supports students during the practicum (student-teaching) process in an innovative seminar that alternates between face-to-face and online sessions.  These seminars are co-taught by highly trained and experienced program supervisors and supervising practitioners from our partner schools.

• prepares its teacher-candidates to be strong and confident users of emerging technologies in the teaching and learning process.  Upon program completion, you will have created a professional web-based portfolio via TaskStream that you can share with prospective employers, colleagues, parents and students.

• supports its graduates for two additional years by offering professional development workshops and career growth opportunities via our new Teacher Leadership Certificate program, our Mentoring in Action Institute (for school- and district-based mentor teachers and coaches), and our Leading for Learning licensure program (for prospective school principals), just to name a few...

The TEACH! UrbanSouth curriculum is based upon three program strands that are emphasized in all licensure courses.  These program strands are demonstrated by students in public "student exhibitions" at the end of the program:

• Urban Education
  • We focus on supporting you in becoming educators specifically in urban settings at "low-income" schools.  With a strong emphasis on preparing culturally responsive educators, we strive to prepare our teacher-candidates to become competent and confident professionals in urban, multicultural environments.
• Teacher Leadership
  • We offer you opportunities to become involved with the new Teacher Leadership Certificate program, the Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium, and CUSP and DESE's joint venture known as The Mentoring in Action Institute.
• Teaching and Learning with Emerging Technologies
  • Throughout the program, our teacher-candidates learn how to use a wide variety of both asynchronous and synchronous tools from the teaching perspective and the student perspective, making them exceptionally strong users of technology upon licensure program completion.  The link above illustrates several of the many tech tools that our teacher-candidates learned how to use throughout their licensure program.

Finally, please note that UMass Dartmouth's TEACH! programs have been evaluated and/or acknowledged at the national, state and local levels.  We are proud to have been recognized by:

• NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams - 2009 February
• The Herald News (Fall River, MA) - 2011 November
• New Teacher Center's Reflections newsletter (Santa Cruz, CA) - 2010 February
• Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy (Boston, MA) - 2009 November
• Christian Science Monitor - 2008 December
• Boston Globe - 2008 September

...to name a few...

These reasons, plus more, are why the TEACH! UrbanSouth program's tagline is "Innovation in Action"!  Please consider joining our "Cohort IV" in 2012.

Quotes from our teacher-candidates...  please watch and listen!