DREAM

DREAM — the Diverse and Resilient Educators Advised through Mentorship teacher residency program — is a collaboration between the UNC School of Education and Durham Public Schools (DPS) to recruit, train, and support highly effective, responsive, transformative, and committed educators to serve the diverse DPS student population. Made possible by a $4.8 million U.S. Department of Education grant, DREAM prepares participating MAT students and provides them with three years of unique on-the-job guided mentorship to help ensure an effective and meaningful career as a DPS educator.

Fellows for Inclusive Excellence

Through private philanthropy and in collaboration with Chatham County Schools and Person County Schools, the Fellows for Inclusive Excellence represents a multi-faceted approach to ensure highly effective educators serve students in rural, high-needs North Carolina communities. The program helps to remove barriers and support current UNC School of Education students and recent graduates to serve as teachers and school counselors in Title 1 schools. The program also provides engaging, sustained professional development for assistant principals in those schools who will help build a robust, integrated experience for participating students, interns, and beginning educators. Ultimately, the Fellows program aims to create high-quality professional learning communities that provide school students with enhanced opportunities to succeed and thrive.

Helping Heels

With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, “Helping Heels — Expanding Access to Care and Improving Opportunities for Rural Schools in the Tar Heel State” places school counselors-in-training in rural high-needs elementary and middle schools and incentivizes the School’s counseling graduates to seek employment in those schools or similar ones. Ultimately, the effort aims to reduce and mitigate inequities of mental health disparities among low-income rural K-8 students by increasing the number of highly qualified school counselors in the schools where those students learn. 

North Carolina New Teacher Support Program

In 2017-18, the School of Education became a regional host for the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program, providing coaching and induction support for beginning teachers. Our New Teacher Support Coaches serve educators in Chatham County Schools, Franklin County Schools, Orange County Schools, and Vance County Schools.

Project PACE

This collaboration is designed to:

  1. Increase capacity for teaching among beginning teachers (BTs) through critical friends groups and context-driven professional development;
  2. Increase the retention, promotion and advanced licensing of beginning teachers;
  3. Build a pipeline of novice teachers to Durham Public Schools; and
  4. Employ effective instructional and evaluation measures to support high-needs students, their teachers and schools.

Teach in Person

With Person County Schools and Piedmont Community College, the UNC School of Education helped to develop and launch Teach in Person which offers a clear path for Person County high school graduates to earn credits at their hometown community college, transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill, earn North Carolina teaching licensure, and then return to Person County to lead their own classroom.

Clinical Placements Partners

Clinical experiences at the UNC School of Education are designed to provide candidates with experience in authentic school-based settings in order to help them learn the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions for classroom teaching, counseling, and school leadership.