Striving to Get It Right! UTEP (Urban Teacher Enhancement Program) Competencies and Teacher Retention

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Faculty Issues in Urban Settings: Commitment, Retention, and Institutional Changes

Abstract

Assuming a culturally relevant teaching stance to promote student academic and socio-cultural success is non-negotiable (Cochran-Smith, Davis, & Fries, 2004; Ladson-Billings, 1994). In the United States, the inability to attract and retain teachers in many of our urban, underserved schools is a reality (Kearney, 2008). Few studies have connected explicitly models of culturally relevant teacher education programs with the retention of a racially diverse pool of teachers. This paper explores two frameworks that undergird UTEP’s philosophy: 1) the UTEP Competencies—sociocultural competence, affirming attitude, collaborative skills, and pedagogy for diversity (Voltz, Collins, Patterson & Sims, 2008), and (2) the UTEP Observation Protocol that inserts the competencies into the M2ECCA framework for teaching in culturally diverse inclusive classrooms.

Authors

• Michele Jean Sims, The University of Alabama - Birmingham

• Deborah L. Voltz, The University of Alabama - Birmingham