 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
About the College
Making a Difference
Set data in motion
Enact a continuous cycle of data to transform ourselves as we transform education
We methodically collect data, analyze and field-test it, and use it to reinvent and reinvigorate our programs. Using data to guide our efforts, we redesigned our Teacher Education Program to better prepare teacher candidates for success in the most challenging classrooms.
Example: over the past three years, a Teachers for a New Era grant has helped the College renew its educator preparation programs by investing in program assessment and evaluation. Faculty discovered that the success they seemed to have in their own classrooms did not necessarily translate to success in the classrooms of their students. Through careful examination of their students’ work during and after the teacher education program, the faculty found that additional complexities presented by a growing commitment to preparing educators for povert- impacted, linguistically and culturally diverse schools and classrooms increased the urgency for change. In response, the faculty reinvented key elements of programs and of their own teaching, began to embed their work in the schools and classrooms for which they were preparing educators, and developed evidence feedback loops that could continue to inform their practice and research on the field. Similar renewal has begun in all of the educator preparation programs in the UW College of Education.
As part of that redesign, we now prepare our Teacher Education Program students to teach in the most challenging schools by beginning their coursework in local community based organizations, like El Centro de la Raza. Working with learners in informal settings broadens their understanding of students and develops their skills to reach all of the students in their classrooms. This is one of many innovative elements of our program to prepare our students to teach children from diverse racial, ethnic, language, and class backgrounds.
In a separate recent project, with 5-year funding from the National Science Foundation, we began creating new techniques, or “tools,” that allow novice science teachers to work like experts in the K-12 classroom. Tools such as video-based learning and carefully focused discussion guides with companion assessment models are readily adapted for a wide range of student abilities, needs, and experiences.
Experimental Education Unit Principal Chris Matsumoto and teacher Jordan Taiting Fong are two members of the incredible team at the Haring Center for Applied Research and Training in Education. An on-campus school for birth through kindergarten, the Experimental Education Unit is one of three components at the Haring Center, which also includes a Professional Training Unit and an Applied Research Unit.