Ramping up to better serve diverse K-12 students
UESS scholars at the 2006 closing event
The racial and ethnic makeup of our schools is changing. In fact, by 2015 it is projected that students of color will constitute 20 percent of Minnesota’s high school graduates compared to 13 percent in 2005 — a 40 percent increase. To prime this growing group of students for success, nine years ago the Minnesota Private College Fund partnered with Hamline University’s Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching (CEUT) and local K-12 schools — with financial support from the St. Paul Travelers Foundation — to establish the Urban Education Summer Scholars (UESS) Program. UESS aims to significantly increase the number of well-prepared teachers of color in St. Paul’s K-12 urban classrooms. The program recruits, supports, prepares and helps to retain teachers of color practicing in urban settings. As a result, 218 current and future teachers of color have received the St. Paul Travelers Urban Education Scholarship and completed the UESS program.
This summer, twenty-two scholars received practical, hands-on, real-world experience teaching and managing an urban classroom, motivating culturally diverse learners and practicing effective teaching strategies. The Minnesota Private College Fund administers the scholarships awarded by the St. Paul Travelers Foundation to students of color with financial need who are committed to pursuing a teaching career in a local urban school. CEUT provides culturally responsive professional development and mentoring — assigning the scholars 6-week service-learning experiences in Twin Cities K-12 classrooms.
Dr. Linda Hanson, president of Hamline University, inspired UESS 2006 Scholars during the program’s concluding event in July. A former teacher herself, Dr. Hanson recalled the first experiences she had teaching urban students in 1972 in Atlanta.
"Reflecting back…no one had a clue about the needs of the students — about how they were coming to school from poverty, with health issues, with lack of basic preparation in reading and writing, even though they were in 10th grade, that they perhaps came from families afflicted with substance abuse or violence," Hanson said. "It was pretty much a situation of 'keeping the lid on' and a very ineffective learning environment."
Hanson contrasted her experiences to those of the UESS 2006 Scholars:
"You will stand before your class understanding the context of the issues affecting urban learners," she said. "You have a framework for teaching that accounts for different ways of learning, for student participation and engagement and for fostering culturally responsive classrooms…. You will be prepared AND experienced…[and] our best hope to make lasting transformational change in our schools."
"The [UESS] summer school experience is about making us effective culturally proficient teachers for learners living with urban and urban-like conditions in our diverse schools," said Patrick Mushale, UESS Scholar 2002 and former teacher from Saint Paul Public Schools. "I must say that this program was an eye-opener. We learned so many things that I would be able to write a detailed book."
Through this proactive collaboration between the Minnesota Private College Fund, St. Paul Travelers and CEUT, more culturally proficient teachers will be prepared to serve culturally diverse K-12 learners.
To find out more about the UESS and the program partners, please visit the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching, the Minnesota Private College Fund and St. Paul Travelers Foundation.