Title: UTEP initiative
 1- UTEP initiativepart of a national effort to 
 improve teacher preparation
- One of 11 institutions funded by the Carnegie 
 Corporation of New York, with additional support
 from the Annenberg and Ford Foundations
- Five year history at UTEP 
- Two years of support remaining
2TNE Design Principles
- Decisions Driven by Evidence 
- Engagement of Liberal Arts and Science Faculty 
- Teaching as an Academically Taught Clinical 
 Practice Profession
- Partnerships with schools as clinics 
- Post-graduation support 
3TNE Supported Accomplishments
- Alignment of classes to established competencies 
- Degree revision and development, coordinated 
 across Colleges
- Enhancement of clinical experiencesprior to and 
 during enrollment in Education courses
-  
- Support for advising and programmatic decisions 
- Post-graduation support for UTEP graduates and 
 other novice teachers
Development of capstone courses in math and 
social studies, and higher certification pass 
rates
Meeting 120 hr requirements with full coverage of 
competencies 
Support for early clinical experiences 
incorporated into Liberal Arts, Science and 
Education courses
Dramatic increase in high school teacher 
production
Tracking trends in teacher retention  
 4Trends in the Enrollment of Liberal Arts and 
Science Students Preparing for Secondary 
Certification
Students Enrolled in Secondary Education Curriculum Course Students Enrolled in Secondary Education Curriculum Course
Fall Semester Enrollment
2004 63
2005 70
2007 180
Liberal Arts/Science Majors with Declared Education Minors Liberal Arts/Science Majors with Declared Education Minors Liberal Arts/Science Majors with Declared Education Minors
Fall Semester Liberal Arts Science
2003 250 86
2005 395 125
2007 490 146
Duplicate counts of UTEP Liberal Arts and 
Science majors with Secondary education minors 
(across all grade levels) Source UTEP Web 
Reports (unofficial data)
Source UTEP College of Education, Teacher 
Education (unofficial data enrollment in SCED 
3311the first course required of preservice 
secondary teachers) 
 5Institutionalizing the Principles Related to 
Collaboration and Data-Driven Decisions
- Expanding the application to all aspects of K-16 
 research
- Fostering a culture of value for education 
 research
- Providing core support for assessment and 
 administration of education research
6Innovations at a Critical TransitionHigh School 
to College
- GOALS 
- Improve the preparation of students for success 
 in University
- Increase the number of students continuing to 
 University
- Increase the number of University graduates 
- Decrease the amount of time to a postsecondary 
 degree
7Transition Innovations
- Partnerships! 
- Cross College involvement 
- Research and assessment
8Early College High Schools
  9College Readiness Initiatives High School and 
Orientation Interventions to improve Placement
- Textbook alignment 
- Joint EPCC-UTEP Admission Application 
- ACCUPLACER Interventions 
- orientation 
- Testing and intervention in the high school 
- Post-test interventions, retest 
- Enhanced New Student Orientation
10High School Intervention (Categorized by UTEP 
Math Placement)
- In Spring 2006, 67 students retested in math 
- 48 retested at least 1 course higher 
- 16 retested from developmental into dependent 
 level
-  6 retested from dependent into college level 
- In 2006-07, 1442 students retested in math 
- 30 retested at least 1 course higher 
- 13 retested from developmental into dependent 
 level
-  .2 retested from developmental into college 
 level
-  3 retested from dependent into college level 
11Summer 2006
ENSO UTEP Enhanced New Student Orientation
-  1,603 students participated 
-  48 retested at least 1 course higher 
-  31 retested from developmental into  
 college-level math
Summer 2007
-  1,117 students participated 
-  51 retested at least 1 course higher 
-  24 retested from developmental into  
 college-level math
12Student Success
- Improving learning and efficiency of progress of 
 our Students
13Old Alignment for Developmental Math
EPCC
Accuplacer College Level Exam
0310 Introductory Algebra
0311 Intermediate Algebra
Linear Pathway, no decisions until in College Math 
 14Students placing into 0311 First Choose Path
STEM
Business and Analytical Social Sciences
Other
0311
developmental
College Level
1319
Calculus
1320/0120 
 15Math Success Rates on First Attempt
Course Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007
0310 66.5 47.5 50.7 58.9 55.0
0311 64.6 44.8 43.8 55.1 59.7
1319       70.3 73.9
13200120 lt35         34.0
13200120 gt35     63.9 65.3 59.2
1320 54.9 61.5 61.3 62.8 52.1
1508 48.4 25.3 44.8 41.9 53.0 
 16Continuing
- Other Interventions 
- Writing workshop 
- Computer assisted instruction 
- Course redesign 
- Learning styles 
- Research and Assessment!
17College Examples
- College of Liberal Arts 
- Dean Daudistel 
- College of Science 
- Dean Morrobel-Sosa 
- College of Education 
- Dean Tinajero 
18College Readiness and College of Liberal Arts 
Initiatives 
- Center for Civic Engagement and Public School 
 Partnerships
- UTEP Go Team School Outreach 
- UTEP Writing Program Pedagogy and Teacher 
 Preparation
- UTEP Faculty-Public School Teacher History 
 Modules
- History Day 
- New Law School Preparation Institute Outreach 
 Program
- Intelligence Community Center of Academic 
 Excellence Program
19UTEPs COLLEGE OF SCIENCEEDUCATIONAL  COLLEGE 
READINESS INITIATIVES 
 20PASSION
Education  Innovation in Math  Science
Unique Learning Laboratory for K-20 Education  
Teacher Preparation in Science  Mathematics
People/Future of the El Paso Border Region
ADE - Access, Diversity  Excellence
Leadership  Impact in Development of Latino 
Scientists  Mathematicians
Premier Institution for Graduation of Latino 
Scientists  Mathematicians
Geosciences  Arid Environments
Border Health Disparities
Ecology  Evolution of Arid Environments
BEST
BRAND
Interdisciplinary Education  Research
Medical/Health Physics
Border Biomedical  Health Research (issues of 
conjoined societies)
Environmental Chemistry
Border Biosafety  Security
Making Math  Science Engaging, Accessible  
Meaningful
Bioinformatics  Computational Science 
 21COLLEGE READINESS INITIATIVES
- Curriculum (Textbook) Alignment - UTEP, EPCC, 
 area High Schools
- Student Peer Leaders  Math, Chemistry (HS) 
- Modular pre-Calculus, Calculus 
- Outreach Activities - Chemistry, Physics Circus
22CenMaSTER Center for Mathematics, Science, and 
Technology Education  Research
- Mission - Research, develop, and disseminate 
 exemplary mathematics  science teaching and
 learning practices for K-20 by facilitating
 collaboration among faculty across the university
 committed to improving math  science education
 serve as a resource for math  science educators
 and leaders in the El Paso region and beyond.
- Vision - Build  foster a community of 
 researchers  practitioners that discovers
 implements innovative teaching  learning
 strategies to ensure the engagement  long term
 success of math  science learners of all groups
 and ages.
- Pre-Service, In-Service, Outreach
23FACULTY ADVANCEMENTTENURE  PROMOTION POLICY
- Recognized  rewarded in TP considerations 
- Scholarship of Teaching - publications or 
 presentations at conferences related to pedagogy
- Work with teachers in schools  development of 
 school curricula - development of materials that
 maximize student learning using Texas State
 standards in primary or secondary education
 frequency and quality of interactions with
 teachers
24Research Questions Some Preliminary Topics for 
Consideration
- TNE Research Conference 
- April 3, 2008 
- UTEP College of Education 
- Josie Villamil Tinajero, Dean
25THEA  EXcET/TExES
- Is a passing score on the THEA a valid and 
 reliable predictor of student readiness for
 TExES/ExCET teacher certification examinations?
 What evidence do we have to support this?
- What is the relationship between students' scores 
 on the content and PPR qualifying exams and the
 resultant scores on the TExES exams?  Is there a
 correlation?
-  
-  Are the qualifying content/PPR exam scores a 
 valuable and reliable predictor of content/PPR
 TExES scores? What evidence do we have to
 support this?
26Early Intervention ProgramsAt UTEP, students 
have typically initiated their pre-education 
roles with COE support during their junior 
years. During the last 2  3 years, this model 
has been changed, and pre-education students now 
work with COE faculty/students/advisors at 
earlier points ..
-   
-  Population A UTEP students (pre-education) 
 who work with COE advisors/students/staff/faculty
 from the summer before freshman year
-  Population B High school students 
 (pre-education) from Canutillo ISD and Ysleta ISD
 who will begin working with COE
 advisors/students/
- staff/faculty in June 2008, with support from the 
 THECB College Readiness ProgramProject BEST.
-  Population C Participants of early 
 intervention programs(MD and FS)
- What evidence do we have of the short- and 
 long-term impacts of these early interventions?
 Which specific components of the interventions
 with Populations A, B and C have resulted in
 measurable changes? Which indicators can we use
 to measure the progress of future teachers over
 time?
27Paraprofessionals
- How many paraprofessionals have completed their 
 programs of study at UTEP?
- How many are currently in the pipeline? 
- How do these individuals compare with other 
 graduates of UTEP programs of study in relation
 to a) retention b) teaching quality (as
 measured by.) c) pupil outcomes? Which
 characteristics of the paraprofessionals
 preparation contribute to their success?
Paraprofessionals are students who are currently 
employed as instructional aides in schools. UTEP 
offers a specialized program of studies for this 
population, the Job-Embedded Model. 
 28Approaches to Teacher Preparation
What evidence has been collected to indicate the 
short- and long-term outcomes of different 
approaches to teacher preparation? For example, 
how do these teachers compare in relation to 
a) retention b) quality c) pupil outcomes. 
 In El Paso, different approaches to teacher 
preparation would include Group A Students 
who graduate from UTEPs 4-year 
program of studies with a BIS degree Group B 
Students who complete UTEPs ATCP program Group 
C Individuals who attain certification through 
store- front organizations  
 29Induction
- How has the UTEP approach (Leadership Teams) to 
 enhancing induction for novice teachers impacted
 a) school culture b) teacher beliefs/attitudes
 c) school-university partnerships d) pupil
 outcomes?
- Which indicators can best be used to help us to 
 continually assess and enhance this induction
 model over the long term?
30Field Experience Issues 
- Which experiences during internship semesters 
 (field experience) contribute to effective
 teaching, and why?  Which data have been
 collected to document the relationship between
 field experience and teaching effectiveness?
 What long-term impacts on pupil achievement have
 resulted?
-   
31Examples of Existing UTEP Grants in K-16
- MSP 
- T-STEM 
- TNE 
- STEP-UP 
- LEAP- UP 
- Title V 
- MaST 
- GK-12 
- Pathways 
- TexPreP
- MARC 
- LSAMP 
- RISE 
- REU 
- Earth Science Acad 
- Upward Bound 
- GEAR-UP 
- Talent Search 
- Student Support Services Program 
- UTTC 
- GESS 
- THECB 
- IPY 
- CREST 
- NSF STEP 
- BEEMS 
- Spencer 
- HHMI