NMSI’s UTeach Program Recognized by President Obama at White House Event

President Barack Obama spotlighted the importance of teachers in shaping our country’s future at a special event today [Jan. 6] at the White House. Specifically, the President recognized the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) and its UTeach program for preparing a new generation of highly qualified math and science teachers.

Press Release

DALLAS (January 6, 2010) – President Barack Obama spotlighted the importance of teachers in shaping our country’s future at a special event today at the White House. Specifically, the President recognized the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) and its UTeach program for preparing a new generation of highly qualified math and science teachers.

“America’s leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today, especially in science, math and engineering,” President Obama said at the gathering in the East Wing of the White House. He pointed out that new public-private partnerships like the national UTeach program will help move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade.
The President underscored the need for high-quality teachers and their role in driving innovation and solutions to global economic, energy and world health issues. He announced a $250 million public-private effort to improve science and mathematics instruction, aiming to help the nation compete in key fields with global economic rivals.

The White House announced NMSI’s expansion of the highly successful teacher-training program, UTeach, to 20 universities across the country. The new sites include the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Tyler, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Cleveland State University, and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Enrollment in UTeach has nearly doubled in just two years, attracting more than 2,100 math and science majors into the program. The expansion announced this week will mean that more than 4,500 undergraduates in STEM subjects will be prepared to become math and science teachers by 2015, and 7,000 by 2018—a commitment that promises to improve the education of more than one million students by 2017 and more than 20 million during the course of the new teachers’ careers.

“Demand for the UTeach program continues to grow around the country,” said Tom Luce, CEO of NMSI.   “The fact that enrollment numbers have nearly doubled in one year confirms that more college students will seek careers as math and science teachers if you provide an approach that makes sense. What we must do now is engage both the private and public sectors in committing the resources necessary to expand this proven program across the nation.”

UTeach allows students to graduate in four years with both deep content knowledge in their major and a teaching certification. Ninety-two percent of UTeach graduates become teachers, and eighty-two percent are still in the classroom after five years. With funding from the Carnegie Corporation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, NMSI will also launch an alumni network for UTeach graduates this year to increase the impact of the program.

Thanks to foundational funding from the Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, NMSI originally implemented the UTeach program in 13 universities in nine states during the 2008-2009 school year. The second cohort of universities announced at the White House is supported by additional funding from the UTeach Institute, Texas Instruments Foundation, the Texas High School Project, the Greater Texas Foundation, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the Tennessee Department of Education, Texas Education Agency, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and other private philanthropy.
About UTeach: Originated at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997, the UTeach program enables students majoring in math, science, or computer science to receive full teaching certification without adding time or cost to their degrees. About 45 percent of the UTeach graduates teach in high-need schools. The national replication process is being directed by the UTeach Institute in conjunction with the National Math and Science Initiative.

The core elements of the UTeach program include:
•    Active recruitment and incentives, such as offering the first two courses for free.
•    A compact degree program that allows students to graduate in four years with both a degree and a teaching certification.
•    A strong focus on acquiring deep content knowledge in math and science, in addition to research-based teaching strategies focusing on teaching and learning math and science.
•    Early and intensive field teaching experience, beginning in the UTeach students’ first semester.
•    Personal attention and guidance from highly experienced master teachers, faculty and successful public school teachers.

About NMSI: The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education, and science to reverse the United States’ troubling decline in math and science education. NMSI is an agent of change, focused on dramatically impacting the U.S. public school system, by bringing best practices to education and replicating programs nationally that have proven success in math and science education. Major support for this ground-breaking national initiative has come from Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Texas Instruments, with in-kind assistance provided by IBM and Perot Systems. For more information, visit www.nationalmathandscience.org.