About Our Program
Print this Page
Send to a Friend
Urban Teacher Center (UTC) is cultivating the most effective and accountable teachers in the nation who will transform learning for America’s most underserved students.
UTC significantly accelerates student achievement in the nation’s highest-need schools by recruiting outstanding teacher candidates, equipping them with state-of-art training, and linking certification directly to student performance. Over time, UTC graduates will be among the most expert and results-oriented teachers in the nation. They will assume leadership roles and exemplify the public case for better teacher preparation and educator accountability. Learn more about our long-term vision.
To graduate and be certified, UTC participants must successfully complete four accountability measures, each designed to ensure teacher performance through demonstrated student achievement and effective practice.
1. Acceptance: Candidates are accepted into the program upon demonstrating a track record of leadership and academic success.
2. Placement: Candidates are placed as a first-year teacher only if they can demonstrate the ability to improve student performance in a small group setting.
3. Conferral of Masters Degree: After their second year of teaching, candidates receive a dual masters degree when they demonstrate successful coursework completion and continual demonstration of effective teaching practices through student achievement.
4. Certification: Candidates graduate from the program and attain their teacher certification upon demonstrating student performance gains across two years of teaching. Learn more about our unique training model.
UTC believes districts need a guarantee—that before teachers are certified, they can demonstrate student achievement gains. Building on lessons learned from other teacher preparation programs, UTC’s selective recruitment, intensive preparation, and ongoing performance measures ensure that districts get only teacher candidates who have demonstrated success in the classroom. Learn more about how we partner with school districts and states.
