The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

Change Teacher Education in Texas

December 15, 2009 by Chris Barbic

In response to the Houston Chronicle article, “Group gives bad grade to Texas teacher education”

Teaching Excellence, doing “Whatever it Takes!” to change teacher education in Texas

While many Texas’ schools of education are being chided for their poor job of training teachers, YES Prep Public Schools teacher training program Teaching Excellence is boasting the student achievement of their first year teachers.

For the past six years, Teaching Excellence has been working to develop a teacher education model that supports teachers in the first year of their craft and ensure that they have the background necessary to perform in the classroom. From the inception of our program, we have always kept the goal in mind – student learning and student mastery. The students of YES Prep have

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YES Prep Celebrates Teachers: Eric Newcomer

December 02, 2009 by Jeremy Jones

Teacher Spotlight: People are the Source of our Strength

Eric Newcomer, YES Prep Southwest, 7th Grade English

Where did you grow up and where did you go to college?

I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I went to college at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m still a student now as I’m working on a masters in the teaching of English from Columbia University Teachers College.

What brought you to teaching?

As a senior in college, I worked as a teacher’s assistant at low-income public middle school. I was surprised by the discrepancy between the quality of education that the kids were receiving and the quality of education that I thought they should receive. I talked about this with a professor, who introduced me to Teach for America. The mission of that program

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Will you change the status quo?

November 28, 2009 by Jeremy Jones

Teachers are the single greatest factor in the achievement of low-income students.  For the past 9 years, 100% of YES Prep's graduating seniors have been accepted to top colleges and universities across the nation.  The success of our students is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teachers who are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that every student, regardless of race, income, or zip code has access to an excellent education.

Last year, we hired 92 teachers from all academic and professional backgrounds.  YES Prep received over 1,200 applications for those 92 teaching positions.  The average years of experience of the teachers that we hired was 1.7 years with 45 teachers having no professional teaching experience.  Twenty-two of those teachers that we

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What teachers are you most thankful for?

November 26, 2009 by Jeremy Jones

TELL US WHAT TEACHERS YOU ARE MOST THANKFUL FOR!

YES Prep is thankful for all of the hard work and dedication of its teachers and students.  Our teachers are the hardest working professionals in education and do whatever it takes to ensure that every one of their students has a chance to be successful in academics and in life.  We would love to hear about the teachers for whom you are thankful and the impact they had in your life.  Leave us your story here and we will send you some great YES Prep merchandise just to let you know how thankful we are of

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