With significant financial and technical support from the Bush Foundation, these universities are redesigning their teacher education programs with emphasis on recruitment, preparation, employment, support, and measurement/assessment. We have committed to transforming our teacher education programs, with explicit emphasis on gauging our programs' effectiveness by using data to measure the effectiveness of the teachers we prepare.

Focus on Collaboration

 Since 2009, we have been working collaboratively with our P‐ 12 partners to improve our teacher preparation programs. We have taken advantage of the opportunity to work together across the network to address larger issues collectively and have formed working groups to focus intensively on select issues.

Evidence-Based Continuous Improvement

 Continuous program improvements can only be possible if faculty and administrators have access to data that documents their teacher candidates’ attributes and effectiveness as they move through preparation programs and into teaching careers. 

We have agreed to participate in a comprehensive assessment system that includes administration of four common surveys.

Three of the surveys occur at key milestones of teacher     candidate preparation:

  • Entry into a teacher preparation program

  • Exiting a teacher preparation program

  • Completion of the first year of teaching

The principal or supervisor completes a survey about the beginning teacher's performance at the end of the first year of teaching.