ABSTRACT
The certification model describes a unique partnership operating as a nonprofit corporation to prepare urban teachers. Every major urban school district has a substantial number of successful—even outstanding—teachers whose students achieve appropriate learning goals and meet school district standards despite extremely difficult life conditions. Alternative certification programs vary widely. Some involve close and equal collaboration between a university and a school district; others are operated primarily by school districts or regional service centers with some cooperation from universities. The Milwaukee Public Schools hire approximately nine hundred teachers new to the system each year. The only full-time faculty members are outstanding classroom teachers. Milwaukee Teacher Education Centers (MTEC’s) curriculum is based upon how educators teach and how students learn. MTEC’s continued existence transforms beliefs that were formerly assumptions into working principles for preparing urban teachers.
