iTeachAZ wins President's Award for Innovation

For its significant contributions to Arizona State University and higher education, iTeachAZ has won the President's Award for Innovation.

ASU values innovative contributions and recognizes ASU faculty and staff who have developed creative and inspiring projects and programs that address one or more of the challenges before us.

The Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College responded to the challenge of preparing more highly effective teachers by creating iTeachAZ, an undergraduate teacher preparation program that provides pre-service teachers with more content area coursework and double the amount of classroom experience.

The new design includes a Senior Year Residency, enabling teacher candidates to spend four days each week in prekindergarten through 8th grade classrooms and one day in pedagogy courses delivered at partner districts, often in Arizona’s most struggling schools.

In fall of 2011, 436 student teachers began the iTeachAZ Senior Year Residency. Of those students, 91 percent were awarded an Institutional Recommendation for certification in Arizona’s public schools, the majority of whom went on to teach in Arizona, predominantly in iTeachAZ partner school districts.

Surveys completed by principals of in-service teachers who graduated from the iTeachAZ pilot in 2010 indicated that 88 percent were effective or highly effective in their first year of teaching. In the last year, 12 universities from around the country visited ASU to learn about iTeachAZ, highlighting the impactful and innovative nature of the program.

Team members:
Nancy Perry, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Sarah Beal, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
April Boozer, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Ryen Borden, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Martha Cocchiarella, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Veronica Griffin, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Pamela Harris, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Elizabeth Hinde, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Angie Linder, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Robert Morse, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Debbie Robinson, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Michelle Rojas, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Kelly Stranathan, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I
Kathy Tomas, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Division I