Award Number: 9453606 Five colleges of the City University of New York (Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island, City College, Hunter College and Lehman College) together with New York University, are part of the New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation; formed to restructure the preparation of prospective teachers of grades K to 12. The Collaborative goal is to increase the number of college graduates entering science and mathematics teaching at all academic levels, and better equip them for teaching these subject areas to New York's culturally, ethnically, economically and linguistically diverse population. New links are being created: on the college campus, between education and liberal arts faculties, and among the various science and mathematics faculties; in each borough, between colleges and school districts; in the university community, among various colleges; and city-wide, between all participants and local science-rich institutions and museums. The Collaborative is engaged in six interrelated clusters of activities, including: 1) developing new approaches to teaching and assessing science and mathematics in college courses, so that prospective teachers themselves experience learning in ways envisioned by national reform efforts, and become familiar with exemplary curriculum resources; 2) establishing a new program for middle school teachers; 3) developing new training materials with special emphasis on design of curriculum units which reflect collaboration among faculty of varied disciplines and school teachers, and that utilize the urban context; 4) providing student support and career development, including follow-up of first year teachers and internships in settings such as college tutoring centers, school classrooms, and local science museums; 5) recruiting promising students into teaching; and 6) developing exemplary field sites for student teachers.
