Outreach

Below are examples of the School of Education’s outreach through programs, research, and events.

Colorado Courage to Teach/Lead
Courage to Teach/Lead is a personal and professional renewal program for public school professionals and others in serving professions. As a professional development program, CtTL emphasizes reflection, contemplation, personal formation, and community dialogue in retreat settings. Colorado Courage to Teach/Lead is affiliated with the Center for Courage and Renewal and is grounded in the work of Parker Palmer (see Palmer, Courage to Teach and A Hidden Wholeness, Jossey-Bass, and Stories of the Courage to Teach, Sam Intrator (Ed). Jossey-Bass).

Faculty: Dan Liston

Partners in Education (PIE)
Since 1987 the Partners in Education (PIE) program has fostered collaborations between partner school districts and the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. One major goal of the PIE Program is to provide professional development opportunities to teachers at all levels of experience. PIE teachers, many of whom are CU-Boulder graduates, obtain teaching positions in one of the partnership school districts and participate in an intense induction program, which includes starting a master's degree program through the School of Education.

Faculty: Penny Scott-Oliver and School of Education Faculty and Doctoral Candidates

STEM Colorado Learning Assistant
National Science Foundation funding through the STEM-TP program allowed us to launch what is now known as the STEM Colorado Learning Assistant model. The Learning Assistant model at CU-Boulder uses the transformation of large-enrollment science courses as a mechanism for achieving four goals: (1) to recruit and prepare talented science majors for careers in teaching, (2)to improve the quality of math and science education for all undergraduates, (3) to engage math and science faculty in the recruitment and preparation of future teachers and to engage education faculty in the transformation of undergraduate courses, and (4) to transform the culture in university math and science departments to value research-based teaching as a legitimate endeavor for ourselves and for our students.

Faculty Leadership Team includes:
Valerie Otero (School of Education), Richard McCray (Astrophysics and Planetary Science), James Curry (Applied Mathematics), and Carl Wieman (Physics).

BUENO Center for Multicultural Education
The BUENO Center is committed to facilitating equal educational opportunities for cultural and language minority students. Through a comprehensive range of research, training, and service projects, the Center promotes quality education with an emphasis on cultural pluralism. The Center also disseminates research findings and related information. Funding for some Center programs is provided through grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Education. Programs include undergraduate, graduate, and research projects. One program, the Career Ladder Program led by Lorenso Aragon, provides opportunities for paraprofessionals working with bilingual students to earn an AA degree then a BA degree and a teacher’s license.

Faculty: Leonard Baca

Education Diversity Scholars Program
The Education Diversity Scholars (EDS) program works with the University of Colorado's LEAD Alliance Neighborhood to provide students of color and first generation college students with social and academic support, as well as advising on financial support and career preparation. The goal of the program is to offer students a welcoming environment and a strong support network in order to help them excel in their chosen fields. The EDS program is committed to providing academic and social support, financial support, and support in preparing for a career.

Faculty: Collinus Hutt

Female Recruits Explore Engineering (FREE)
FREE is an outreach and research project that brings together academically talented Black, Latina, Native American, and White high school girls in small groups to focus on exploring engineering and information technology as career choices.  The program concentrates on 3 factors known to affect the appeal of engineering and IT for girls:  (1) exposure to up-to-date engineering content and activities that intrigue and challenge girls specifically; (2) development of close networks of peers, parents, and other adults who support these interests; and (3) serious consideration of the attitudes and conditions that discourage girls from futures in engineering and IT.

Faculty: Margaret Eisenhart

Manual High School Action Research Study
In this project, students have documented the impact of a high school closure on their peers. It is a collaboration between Ben Kirshner and three youth-serving agencies in Denver: the Manual Academic Resource Center Youth Leadership Team (led by Michael Simmons), Students 4 Justice (led by DeQuan Mack), and Project VOYCE (led by Brian Barhaugh). Students from these groups, who received stipends, have studied the impact of the closure using surveys, interviews, and media analysis. Students have been trained in research design, data collection, and data analysis.

Faculty: Ben Kirshner

Teachers of Color (TOCA) Summit
This Teachers of Color (TOCA) Summit brings together education students, practicing educators of color, and allies to provide collegial support, opportunities for networking and mentoring, and insights into best practices in education. The audience for the TOCA Summit is: pre-service and in-service educators committed to issues of diversity education, educators who are interested in a long-term commitment to diversity issues, and educators interested in networking and mentoring with follow educators of color and allies.