Educating Educators: Cutting-Edge Programs for Leaders and Practitioners

Educating education professionals received a $21.4 million boost in late February, when construction began on DU’s Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, future home of the Morgridge College of Education.

Sited prominently at the corner of East Evans Avenue and High Street, the building will serve as a hub for leading-edge work focused on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

According to Jerry Wartgow, who served as interim dean of the Morgridge College throughout 2008–2009, the new building should foster synergy among the college’s many programs. That, in turn, will provide a richer and broader experience for students.

When it opens in June 2010, the building, which is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, will be the most technologically advanced school of education building in the country. Its many amenities will include advanced video conferencing to aid conversations with colleagues across the country and around the world. The result? An information exchange that should catalyze positive developments in education at all levels.

A New Residency Program for Teachers

Wartgow expects that the building and the synergy it fosters will influence the most important variable in K-12 student achievement: the quality of the teacher. A former superintendent of Denver Public Schools (DPS), Wartgow believes that too many teachers, prepared in the traditional manner through traditional programs, are not up for the challenges of today’s changing classrooms.

In the interests of improving teacher education and based on the success of its Boettcher Teacher Residency program, the Morgridge College of Education has partnered with DPS to create the Denver Teacher Residency program. Modeled after a medical residency, the program is designed to attract, cultivate and support exceptional teachers in high-needs subjects and schools within the district.

Because the program is customized to the school district, participants will be able to work within DPS effectively and with a minimal learning curve. For example, courses on teaching reading will utilize DPS’ reading programs, meaning new teachers will find no discrepancies between their classroom and field experiences.

Students in the residency program will earn a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, as well as their teaching license. Each will be assigned to a mentor teacher within DPS. During their second year in the program, students will work in a DPS school as a teacher of record. At the end of that year, as they receive their master’s degree, they become eligible for a raise. If they teach with the district for three additional years, DPS will reimburse their full DU tuition.

The program launches in fall 2009 with 27 slots in five different schools. These slots drew 292 applicants in the first year. When the residency program reaches its peak enrollment in three years, as many as a quarter of DPS’ new hires could be trained through DU.

“This is a very significant program in how it will influence the future of Denver Public Schools,” Wartgow said. “It’s going to have a big impact, and a lot of people are going to be looking at it. It has the most promise for improving student achievement in this country of anything I’ve seen in the time I’ve been involved with this.”

An Institute to Shape Early Childhood Education

Research indicates that success for adults begins in early childhood. In fact, the data suggest that effective early education programs increase high school and college graduation rates, reduce teenage pregnancies and illegal behavior, and help close the academic performance gap between low-income children and their more affluent peers.

To ensure that parents, professionals, legislators and others have access to the best resources in early childhood education, the Morgridge College of Education introduced its Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Literacy in 2008. Made possible by a $1.5 million gift from the Cydney and Tom Marsico Family Foundation, the institute is directed by former Morgridge College Dean Ginger Maloney.

The institute’s primary goal is to foster partnerships to address critical issues. In the last year, the institute developed the Early Childhood Colorado Web site as an open-access information source for the early childhood community. While the site includes event and job postings, its most important function is to provide a searchable database for resources.

Thanks to a partnership with the Morgridge College’s Library and Information Science Program (LIS), the college has secured a three-year grant that will fund and train 10 master’s-level LIS students for work in the early-childhood arena. Believed to be the only such program nationwide, the effort will prepare librarians for literacy work with young children and their families.

The Marsico Institute also has provided information to Colorado policy makers, particularly as the state gears up to pursue Race to the Top funds, offered by the federal government to encourage innovation in education. In fact, the institute has provided information on P-3 (preschool through third-grade) education for the Colorado governor’s P-20 Education Coordinating Council, created to improve the quality of education for all Colorado children.

In addition, the Marsico Institute has been researching the type of legislation needed to expand access to child services and education to educators. “We’ve been able to provide research to policy makers just in time,” Maloney said. “That’s our goal. Give them the information they need just when they need it to make better decisions.”