"When I think about the challenges we face in our society, I am convinced that no task will be more important in this decade than preparing our children to lead productive lives, and to do so, we need thousands of additional qualified teachers in our schools.

We realize that UMBC must not only increase the number of teachers we produce, but we also need to emphasize the importance of the profession, both on campus and in the community. This means doing more to bring outstanding students into the teacher education pipeline and lending the expertise of our faculty to teachers currently in service.

The challenges of improving teacher quality, diversity, and availability are confronting every state. Unless we are able to put a highly qualified, effective teacher in every classroom, the larger goal of improved student learning for all children will be out of reach."