:: Back to What's New :: Bequests increase in campaign :: New engineering program produces first graduates :: Award recognizes education project's success :: UNF student named to U.S. deaf soccer team ::

April 2003

Award recognizes education project's success

UNF student Jennifer Painter works with a student at Woodland Acres Elementary School, which is part of the Urban Professional Development Schools project.

After 20 years instructing UNF students on how to teach, Dr. Lynne Raiser questioned whether her students were learning to be effective teachers of reading and writing by sitting in class.

"They needed to be with children. So did I," Raiser said. "I needed to return to my roots - the public school classroom. When Dean Kasten asked me if I wanted to be the professor in residence at an urban professional development school, I jumped at the chance."

Six years after joining Woodland Acres Elementary School, Raiser can see the incredible results the program has had on UNF students and their young learners.

The success of the program at Woodland Acres and two other Duval County public schools was recognized with the 2003 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education.
The Association of Teacher Educators presented the award Feb. 25 at its 83rd annual meeting in Jacksonville. The association presents the award to an exemplary program in teacher education that is a cooperative effort between a university and a local education agency.

The College of Education and Human Services and Duval County Public Schools work together on the Urban Professional Development Schools project. The project places 30 to 36 teaching interns from UNF each semester at the three Duval schools and provides the interns with support and supervision through a master teacher at each school site. The master teachers work with interns and classroom teachers and assist the schools with initiatives to improve education.

The joint project has worked with Sallye B. Mathis Elementary for three years and West Jacksonville Elementary and Woodland Acres Elementary for six years. Each school is in a poor or deteriorating neighborhood and serves a high percentage of low-income families and minorities. The student turnover rates can exceed 50 percent in a year.

"This award is validation of our work by our colleagues in teacher education and, thus, particularly special," Kasten said.

Kasten noted that a rigorous process was used to select the 2003 winner from those nominated for the award. The other finalists were the Secondary Education Program at the University of Dayton and the Bilingual Special Education Program at George Washington University in cooperation with Montgomery County Public Schools.

More than 200 College of Education students in elementary education, primary education and special education have completed internships at these schools during the past six years. Other UNF teacher education candidates also are placed in the schools to gain early field experience.

In addition to the UNF students, these schools each have a UNF professor in residence who teaches a methods course at the school. The students also work with the schoolchildren as part of UNF class activities. The professors also help supervise intern teachers, work with classroom teachers and serve on leadership teams.

Of the 246 UNF graduates who participated in the project from 1997 to 2001, 172 have accepted jobs in Duval County schools.

The College of Education found that its teacher candidates who have had internships through the project's schools are better prepared and more willing to take their first teaching jobs in urban schools.

"The commitment of the UNF students and the Woodland Acres children to each other has been successful beyond my wildest dreams," Raiser said.

"The UNF students know they are an essential part of the school safety net. The hour they spend with their 'wildcat' is making a difference," she added. "At the beginning of this year, 46 percent of the second-graders were reading below grade level. Now, only 19 percent are in danger of failing."

"We are part of this success."