Hunter Recognized for Excellence in Teacher Education

Hunter College is the recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award, given by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Hunter was honored for its Urban Teacher Residency Program (UTR).

Launched in 2009, as a master's degree program, UTR was developed by Hunter's School of Education in collaboration with New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City Department of Education partnership support organization for secondary public schools. The program has developed a model of teacher residency-based on the medical residency model-where students spend much of their time in the classroom from day one,  in schools that have built the capacity to receive and mentor them. This preparation is then paired with a post-degree support network that aid new teachers as they enter the classroom as teachers of record.

The Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award  is just the latest recognition of UTR's achievements. In 2012, based on the program's early success, the National Science Foundation awarded Hunter's School of Education a $7.6 million Math and Science Partnership grant to design a math and science teacher education residency program to prepare teachers for the increasingly critical field of STEM education.