Filling the need for quality professional development for teachers in our region

Teachers should have access to high quality resources to continually improve in their profession and advance in their careers. Schools and districts provide important professional development for their teachers, but they are limited by resource and time constraints, so they must focus on school or district priorities. In order to meet the broad need for high quality professional development of the diverse range and skillset of individual teachers, the College of Education is creating the Tucson Regional Teacher Professional Development Institute, funded by a grant from Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Leading the charge for the new institute are Dean Bruce Johnson, Assistant Dean Sara Chavarria, and Professor of Educational Psychology Ron Marx. As a result of their efforts, the college received $50,000 from a donor through the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona to begin a needs assessment this fall. In the winter, the design work begins. We are proud to partner with the following entities on the creation of the institute: UA STEM Learning Center, Pima County Schools Superintendent, CITY Center Collaborative, Tucson Values Teachers, Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children, Partners for Equitable Science Instruction, and several local school districts and charter schools.