Jan. 7, 2000
Contact: Dawn Fuller
513-556-1823
dawn.fuller@uc.edu

Since 1992, the five-year CITE experience has provided UC students with a year- long paid teaching internship in Cincinnati Public Schools, amounting to considerably more job preparation than the traditional 10 to 15 week student teaching program. Nine of the Cincinnati Public Schools participate in the partnership and are called Professional Practice Schools. Under the guidance of an experienced, certified teacher/mentor, the UC students spend their final year performing all of the duties of a teacher, plus earning partial credit on the graduate level at UC.

"A thorough overhaul of teacher education requires a partnership among schools, the university and the teaching profession," says Tom Mooney, president, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. "Cincinnati has forged that partnership. Our graduates are far better prepared than many of us were when we entered the profession."

A delegation representing the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools and the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers will travel to Washington, D.C., to present an overview of the development and success of CITE. Presenters are Anthony Perzigian, UC interim senior vice president for baccalaureate and graduate education; Larry Johnson, interim dean, UC College of Education; Martha Hendricks-Lee, research associate, UC College of Education; Mooney; and Rosa Blackwell, deputy superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools.

"This conference is being held for university administrators, presidents, chancellors and deans to demonstrate how to have quality programs in teacher education," says Hendricks-Lee. "To be invited by the U.S. Secretary of Education and to be featured as one of the best programs in the country, a program for college chancellors and presidents to try to emulate -- that is truly an honor."

"This is not just about education on the university level," continues Johnson. "This is about how universities can partner with K-12 schools to help make them better and to help them succeed, and we're an exemplary partnership."

The CITE mentoring experience has resulted in proven professional development benefits for beginning teachers, the certified teachers working in the schools and the UC faculty.

"The certified teachers in the Professional Practice Schools are more likely to obtain national board certification than their peers, and that attests to the quality of this experience," explains Hendricks-Lee. "They must undergo a year of writing a portfolio and rigorous testing in order to achieve this voluntary advanced certification."

Hendricks-Lee says the partnership has helped UC faculty bridge the gap between theory and practice and has created new opportunities to conduct research.

This year, the "Ohio's BEST Practices" coalition honored CITE with the World Class Teaching Award, the highest recognition from the statewide coalition of education, business and community organizations.

In February, CITE brought UC's College of Education the "Exemplary Practice Award in Support of Teacher Education Accreditation," a distinction that is presented annually to only one college in the nation from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.