Dr. Sally Ride Keynote Speaker at UTeach Institute Annual Conference - May 25th, 2010

Teams from UTeach replication sites, universities interested in replicating UTeach, and donors and foundations will be at The University of Texas at Austin today through May 27 for UTeach Institute’s Annual Conference.

UTeach is one of the top teacher preparation programs in the U.S. for secondary math, science, engineering and technology teachers, and it is the result of a highly successful partnership between The University of Texas at Austin’s Colleges of Education, Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts and Engineering.

The Institute annually hosts a conference that offers valuable opportunities for professionals at UTeach replication sites, as well as other education leaders, to learn more about UTeach and the progress of the nationally recognized program. Topics covered in the conference relate to the UTeach curriculum and the day-to-day operation of the program.

Dr. Sally Ride, who is best known as America’s first woman in space, is delivering the keynote address at this year's conference. In 2001, she founded Sally Ride, which is dedicated to supporting and encouraging girls' and boys' interests in science, math and technology.

Founded in 1997, UTeach has been endorsed by the Bush and Obama administrations as a model program for bettering K-12 education in science, technology, engineering and math. The program is being implemented at 21 universities around the U.S. By 2014, UTeach programs are expected to be producing more than 1,000 math and science teachers annually. In Texas, six universities are implementing the program, including The University of Texas at Austin, UT Dallas, UT Arlington, UT Tyler, the University of North Texas and the University of Houston.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910