Wichita State University has been awarded a $1 million grant, renewable for five years to total more than $6 million, from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for a program that advances teacher preparation for urban education.

Funds for development of the Urban Teacher Preparation Program (UTTP) at WSU come from the DOE’s teacher quality partnerships grant program.

Addressing the growing need for specially trained teachers in urban school districts such as Wichita’s, the grant will help WSU partner with Wichita Public Schools and its early childhood education partners at The Opportunity Project and possibly another local agency to provide high quality, integrative, comprehensive preparation for urban education.

“Our partnership with The Opportunity Project is going to be very rewarding,” said Iorio, “because it will be the first time in Kansas that our WSU students will work, at the site, alongside early childhood professionals in a residency program.”

Wichita’s public school district enrolls a diverse student body of approximately 50,000; of those students, 68 percent are designated as economically disadvantaged.

Through the UTPP, WSU education students can receive elementary and secondary preparation for urban schools and participate in a teacher residency program for early childhood special education.

WSU is among 28 universities nationwide to be granted teacher quality partnership grants for urban teacher training programs to improve instruction in struggling schools.

Kim McDowell, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at WSU, co-wrote the grant with Terry Behrendt, senior fellow for research; Sheril Logan, assistant dean of education; and Shirley LeFever Davis, associate dean of education. Behrendt and McDowell are co-principal investigators with Iorio.

The UTTP’s core curriculum for all levels of concentration will focus on urban education and diverse student needs, paying close attention to the literacy skills of students in high-need schools.

“Upon completion of the UTPP pre-baccalaureate program,” said McDowell, “candidates will possess the knowledge, skills and dispositions from the integration of pedagogy and research-based practices to work effectively in an urban setting. Many of the candidates will have learned to teach in the same work environment where they will be employed.”

The program will prepare UTTP students to be licensed in their chosen content area, McDowell said. In addition, they will have the skills and knowledge necessary to receive an ELL endorsement in teaching English-language learners.

Candidates in the teacher program will be rigorously selected and intentionally matched with a well-qualified classroom teacher for mentoring. The partnering agencies will collaborate on the design and implementation of the program, including curriculum, implementation and evaluation/assessment of the program’s effectiveness.