UTC mentor program aims to give new teachers a boost

Student teacher Katie Crabtree, left, and East Brainerd kindergarten teacher Patti Keller, right, talk shop as teacher recruiting coordinator Aimee Randolph, back center, steps in to hear Abigail Eilermann, second from left, and Amy Ingell, back right, during the breakout session. The event was the launch of the  
UTC School of Education and the Hamilton County Department of Education sponsorsd pilot program for student teachers at the UTC University Center on Tuesday.
Student teacher Katie Crabtree, left, and East Brainerd kindergarten teacher Patti Keller, right, talk shop as teacher recruiting coordinator Aimee Randolph, back center, steps in to hear Abigail Eilermann, second from left, and Amy Ingell, back right, during the breakout session. The event was the launch of the UTC School of Education and the Hamilton County Department of Education sponsorsd pilot program for student teachers at the UTC University Center on Tuesday.
photo Pre-kindergarten through third grade student teachers turn to look at teaching mentor Patricia Kilbourne, standing far left, as she is introduced Tuesday during the Mentor Teachers and Principles pilot program meeting in the Chattanooga Room at the University Center. Hamilton County Principal of the Year Stephanie Hinton, bottom right, was introduced as a speaker shortly after.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Education has rethought how it prepares its students to become teachers and taken a new approach that educators hope will help right the ship in Hamilton County.

The lion's share of teachers in the county school system are products of the program, but over the years it has done a poor job of preparing future teachers for the rigors of the classroom, research shows.

The Times Free Press previously reported that in 2014, the National Council on Teacher Quality ranked UTC's elementary education program as one of the worst in the nation - 327 of 394 - while other Tennessee teacher prep programs placed in the top 50.

But education leaders in the community are hoping that is about to change.

On Tuesday afternoon a select group of a couple dozen college students met with established teachers in the community as part of a new Student Teacher Pilot Program.

The program is one of the first moves made by the School of Education's new director, Renee Murley, who many expect will shift the school's results and help Hamilton County Schools in the long run.

"This group is making a commitment to give back to future teachers," Murley said. "This collaboration will open doors in the future."

A handful of UTC seniors interested in teaching pre-kindergarten through third grade will be paired this fall with teachers who have demonstrated excellence at their job in order to learn best practices firsthand.

The teachers they will be learning from were hand-picked from nine schools that administrators at the Hamilton County Department of Education felt were representative of the district's economic, geographic and demographic diversity.

"This partnership is critical for the development of strong teachers," said Murley, who met with the principal of each school over the last several months.

For some of the students and teachers, Tuesday was the first time they had been introduced. Paige O'Neal, a senior at UTC, was thrilled to find she would be under the tutelage of Courtney Hueter, a third-grade teacher at Normal Park Elementary School.

"If I'm with one of the best teachers in the county, I'll be so much better off," she said.

Aside from intentionally partnering college students with the most capable teachers possible, leaders of the pilot program have also decided to anchor student-teachers at their respective schools for a full 14 weeks.

In years past, student-teachers spent seven weeks in one classroom before switching halfway through the semester to go somewhere else.

"I think it's going to be a great change," O'Neal said.

Hueter said she thought so too, because the extended time will help student-teachers establish relationships with the kids.

"You have to know your students. You have to find a way to get in with them," she said.

Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow on Twitter @emmettgienapp.

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