Teacher Preparation

A shortage of full-time and substitute teachers is placing a severe strain on Washington's schools according to surveys of principals analyzed by a team from the University of Washington College of Education. 

Among the key findings: 80 percent of principals have had to hire under-qualified teachers while three-quarters of principals had personally substituted for a classroom teacher within the previous five days.

The University of Washington College of Education's efforts to strengthen the nation's STEM teaching workforce will be discussed during an Oct. 28 summit at the White House.

The University of Washington is launching a new effort to strengthen the nation's early care and education workforce by increasing access to programs preparing these professionals.

From an early age, Lorena Guillen felt a call to change the status quo of schooling. The Los Angeles native heard stories from family members who were scolded by their teachers and administrators for speaking Spanish in school.

Despite that treatment, her mother instilled the importance of education, and Guillen would go on to teach in a Los Angeles high school. Problems at the under-resourced school soon surfaced however.

Encouraging students to ask questions, to conduct thoughtful experiments and even to get a bit messy in the lab are among the many joys Erin Flynn and Gretel von Bargen experience in their biology classes.

Kristin Weakly (MIT '15) will join a select group of the nation's most promising young teachers in the 2015 cohort of the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation's fellows program.

Weakly, who will begin her first year of teaching this fall after graduating from the University of Washington College of Education, joins a group of 34 high school mathematics and science teachers beginning their careers as KSTF Teaching Fellows.

Mia Tuan, a distinguished scholar who has worked to strengthen equity and inclusion in educational settings, will officially assume the deanship of the University of Washington College of Education on July 1.

Dr. Tuan joins UW after serving as a professor of education studies at the University of Oregon. During her 18 years at UO, she held a number of leadership roles, including interim dean of its College of Education, associate dean of its Graduate School, and director of the Center on Diversity & Community.

Kate Napolitan, a doctoral student in special education, has been recognized as one of two recipients of the University of Washington's 2015 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Educational leaders and policymakers in the United States can learn a great deal by looking northward to Canada says Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington College of Education.

"Schools in Alberta are performing well not only on academic achievement, but also on measures of equity," said Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at UW. "Unlike here in the U.S., there's not a high level of criticism of teachers and teacher education. Teachers are valued for their professional acumen."

All too often in teacher preparation programs, families and communities are portrayed as obstacles to teachers' work, says Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington College of Education.

"We're parachuting teachers into schools and communities to try and save students," said Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at UW. "Most universities have neglected their communities and the deep knowledge that parents and other community members can offer as we prepare the teachers of their children."