The University of Washington is one of 11 universities selected to participate in the Teachers for a New Era (TNE) program, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, among others.

The purpose of TNE is to facilitate the improvement of K-12 teacher training programs and ensure that "universities are educating prospective teachers of the highest quality possible," according to the UW College of Education Web site.

Emphasis is placed on redesigning teacher training because the quality of the teacher is the single most important factor that greatly affects a student's learning, according the TNE Web site.

"The Carnegie Corporation solicited to institutions...willing to look at creating more evidence about what a quality teacher preparation program looks like, and how we know that [it] makes a difference for kids," said TNE director of induction Sally Luttrell-Montes of the UW College of Education.

The grant, which will total $5 million over five years, was first received by the UW in 2003 and will continue until 2008.

The TNE prospectus outlines three main aims of the program: giving more consideration to schools of education, collaboration between colleges of education and of arts and sciences, and implementing a two-year-long mentor program to help prospective teachers transition from the University to classroom settings.

In order to bring together the College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and the school community in a neutral setting conducive to collaboration and research, the grant has been used to create the Washington Center for Teaching and Learning (WACTL), said Luttrell-Montes.

"Those entities each have different roles to play in regards to teacher preparation," she said.

TNE is different from other teacher preparation programs in that it "looks at teacher preparation as a university issue, not a College of Education issue," she said.

This year the WACTL is working on creating a pathway that will be available in fall of 2007 for undergraduate students, which would allow them to take courses on learning early in their academic career in addition to having a practicum in schools, said Luttrell-Montes.

One of the biggest challenges of being a new teacher is that there is a "disconnect between the university setting where [students] are learning theory...and the actual everyday skills that it takes to be a teacher," said third-grade teacher Sheila Ward of Bryn Mawr Elementary, who has been teaching for 10 years.

Over the past two years, Ward has acted as a mentor to two early career teachers through a WACTL program called Survive and Thrive.

"The program has definitely been successful," she said. "It provides an opportunity for more experienced teachers to collaborate with early career teachers."

Efforts are also being made to increase the diversity of candidates in the College of Education by working with Seattle Central Community College and possibly organizing scholarships to assist students with aspirations of becoming teachers, Luttrell-Montes said.

Out of the 11 other universities selected to participate in TNE, "none of them set up a neutral center like we did," she said.

An institution that participates in TNE should be regarded as one of the best programs possible for prospective teachers, according to the TNE Web site.

"I think that we have made great progress," Luttrell-Montes said. "We're not there yet – and I think that it's going to take continued time and continued support."

Contributing writer Sonia McBride: development@thedaily.washington.edu