"Teaching That Makes a Difference"
  

UMBC is a leader in assisting Maryland’s most troubled public schools through Project SUPPORT (School-University Partnership to Prepare Outstanding Responsive Teachers), a remarkably successful federally funded program that will ultimately place 1,100 teachers in Baltimore City and hundreds more in Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties.

“Our school-university partnerships will break a tradition of neglect by recruiting, preparing, mentoring and retaining the high-quality teachers necessary to improve student learning and achievement,” says UMBC Clinical Associate Professor of Education John Lee, who heads the project.

The program is a win-win for public school students, their schools and UMBC’s urban teachers-in-training. UMBC’s teacher trainees receive tuition support for their master’s level studies and undertake apprenticeships with veteran teachers in the school system. By year-end, UMBC will have 150 urban teacher graduates.

In turn, the program’s public school partners are promised that UMBC teacher candidates will sign on for five years. As a result, teacher attrition in many of these schools is down. Moreover, in schools where UMBC has provided academic services, student achievement has soared.