Uplift Education Partners with The USC Rossier School of Education
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) September 26, 2013 -- Uplift Education, North Texas’ largest network of free public charter schools, announced today that it has partnered with the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education (USC Rossier) to provide its schools with a broad range of benefits, including scholarships and enhanced professional development opportunities for its teachers and greater access to hiring top teaching talent for its schools. USC Rossier will utilize Uplift as the key field placement training ground for its teacher candidates in the North Texas area.
Uplift's mission is to create and sustain public schools of excellence that empower each student to reach their highest potential in college and the global marketplace and to inspire in students a life-long love of learning, achievement, and service in order to positively change their world. Three Uplift Education high schools are on the list of Newsweek’s Top 25 Transformative Schools and one cracks the Top 50 of America’s Best High Schools.
USC Rossier is ranked #17 among graduate schools of education by U.S. News & World Report. In 2009, USC Rossier began delivering its academically rigorous graduate teaching programs online, providing aspiring and currently working teachers with a unique blend of live class sessions, online self-paced coursework and hands-on field-based teaching experiences.
Through this collaborative partnership, Uplift teachers who enroll in USC Rossier online programs will receive a $5,000 scholarship. The partnership enhances placement and career opportunities to USC Rossier students and graduates with a significant Dallas area school system. The partnership also provides the following benefits to Uplift:
• Ability to observe potential job candidates: USC Rossier master’s candidates based near an Uplift school will complete their student teaching, also known as Guided Practice, at Uplift. This provides Uplift the benefit of observing and evaluating teacher candidates in action to effectively identify the best potential future hires.
• Access to the USC Rossier renowned alumni network: USC Rossier has a robust international and nation-wide alumni base of Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Education in Advanced Instruction graduates. Uplift will have access to USC Rossier teacher online portfolios and can tap into this network to recruit highly qualified teachers.
• Access to USC Rossier education seminars: USC Rossier’s expert faculty often holds educational and topical seminars on the web. These webinars have previously covered such topics as a review of Common Core Standards, academic language, gifted education, and arts integration.
• Scholarships: Current Uplift faculty and staff who pursue a graduate degree through a USC Rossier Online program are awarded a $5,000 scholarship.
“This partnership will be a great asset both educationally and professionally. We’re excited to provide this opportunity to our teachers and staff while also gaining access to USC Rossier’s pool of talented students and graduates,” said Rhonda Nelson, Senior Director of the Strategic People Initiative for Uplift.
“We’re so happy to welcome Uplift Education to the USC Trojan Family. Our partnerships with high quality education systems around the country are critical to the success of our MAT graduates. Uplift shares Rossier’s vision of preparing exceptional teachers who can help all students, whatever their circumstances, to learn and succeed,” says Karen Symms Gallagher, Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education.
About Uplift Education
Uplift Education is a is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating a network of 28 tuition-free, college preparatory, public charter schools in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and Irving on 13 campuses. Uplift Education schools provide a rigorous, multidisciplinary curriculum, with an emphasis on college preparation – 100% of graduates are accepted to college. Uplift Education educates more than 10,000 students, with the majority being low-income and minority students who will be the first in their family to attend college. Uplift schools are public schools -- students are selected by a blind lottery with no information collected on their past academic performance.
About the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education
The mission of the USC Rossier School of Education (ross-EAR) is to improve learning in urban education locally, nationally and globally. Rossier leads the way in innovative, collaborative solutions to improve education outcomes. Our work is field-based, in the classroom, and online, and reflects a diversity of perspectives and experiences. We pride ourselves on innovation in all our programs, preparing teachers, administrators, and educational leaders who are change agents. We support the most forward-thinking scholars and researchers, whose work is having direct impact on student success in K-12 schools and higher education. We are leaders in using cutting-edge technology to scale up our quality programs for maximum impact. The Rossier School of Education is part of The University of Southern California, one of the world's leading private research universities, located in the heart of Los Angeles.
Sara Ortega, Uplift Education, +1 (469) 621-8498, [email protected]
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