New Masters Degree: Teacher Mentoring, Leadership & Professional Development

The Language and Literacy faculty have taken the lead in organizing a new masters program entitled: Teacher Mentoring, Leadership & Professional Development. The first cohort of students started this program in the summer of 2012. The program is directed toward classroom teachers at the elementary level (grades 1 through 5) in the greater Austin area. Teachers enrolled in this program work directly with preservice students in the undergraduate reading specialization cohort. The first year of the program is designed to guide the teachers in supporting these preservice teachers. The program shifts then to a focus in working in their own schools in mentoring, leadership and professional development activities. While the Language and Literacy faulty are taking the lead in organizing this program, the students who enroll will have the option of specializing in any program area in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

We envision this program as leading, in the short term, to more effective support for our undergraduates. We envision this program, in the long term, as contributing to the pool of teachers in the Austin area who will collaborate with our teacher preparation program at The University of Texas at Austin. We envision the formation of a network of teachers that would continue into the future in collaboration with our teacher education program.

There is financial support for all accepted students. We are currently recruiting the next cohort of teachers to enter this program to begin in the summer of 2013.

We are seeking outstanding classroom teachers who meet the following criteria:

• A commitment to improving classroom practices.
• Currently teaching in Grades 1 through 6 at an elementary school with the intention of continuing to teach in one of these grades for the 2012-2013 academic year.
  • A minimum of three years classroom teaching experience (by the end of spring 2013).
  • A strong commitment to the development of mentoring skills.
  • A commitment to work with an intern/student teacher during the 2013-2014 academic year.
  • Support of your school principal for your participation in the program.

There are several required course in the program with most of these offered during the first year. Summer: Master Reading Teacher Institute (month of June, all day); Fall: Supervised Teaching; Spring: Classroom Research; Summer, Introduction to Educational Research course (required of all Masters students); Fall: School Leadership. The required courses are generally restricted to the students enrolled in this program. This leaves eighteen semester additional hours of optional coursework for students to complete the program at their own pace.

For more information, please contact Dr. Melissa Mosley Wetzel.