The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Teachers’ Day is today, October 5. This year, UNESCO is celebrating the theme of “Teachers at the Heart of Recovery,” which is also a central focus of the work that the Glasscock School does with thousands of teachers and students we reach every day in the 76 public school districts within the greater Houston area. To celebrate the day, Rice’s Anderson-Clarke Center, home of the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, will be illuminated in blue light throughout the evening of World Teachers' Day.
Even under the best of circumstances, teaching is a demanding endeavour. Recent studies show that nearly half of new teachers quit the profession within five years, which results in an annual $54 million cost to an already underfunded system. The last 18 months have expounded the challenges our educators face, and highlighted the pressing need for investment in those who are shaping our future.
For nearly three decades, Rice’s Glasscock School and the Rice Center for Education (now part of the Glasscock School) have been making this investment through rigorous teacher preparation and professional development programs strategically formatted to span the PreK-12 continuum. We believe our public schools represent our greatest hope for educating and preparing all 5+ million Texas students for the future, and our schools’ success is dependent not only on equipping teachers for the classroom, but as leaders for their campuses.
At the core of every Rice Center for Education initiative lies a focus on three principles: access to quality teachers, preparation for the unique needs of Houston public schools, and equity among students and teachers. As we recognize teachers today, we would like to share some highlights of what we are accomplishing together within these three guiding principles.
Access to Quality Teachers
Through the Center’s teacher and principal certification and degrees programs, we currently have 62 principals, teachers, and clinical teachers serving in Houston Area school districts impacting 9,300 students. In the midst of the pandemic, we experienced an 800% growth in our Master of Arts Teacher (MAT) Residency Program with 18 clinical teachers serving in 13 Houston ISD schools. We have received Texas Education Agency Awards from 2018-2021 for Academic Rigor in certification of teachers. These programs have produced a “Rookie Teacher of the Year” every year since 2013. These teachers leave our program prepared for the rigor of public education, and immediately make a difference as leaders on their campuses.
Preparation for the Unique Needs of Houston Public Schools
The Center’s School Literacy & Culture (SLC) program established the Rice Oral and Written Language Lab, a demonstration ancillary classroom at HISD’s Gabriela Mistral Center for Early Childhood in HISD’s Gulfton area, where teachers from all over HISD come to learn early childhood literacy best practices. The success of this one lab has led to the establishment of seven lab replication sites in Houston and Aldine ISDs as well as a two-year leadership program that has produced 23 "Educator of the Year" honors at the campus, district and city level. During the pandemic, SLC worked with 80 teachers through yearlong and multiyear leadership programs for early childhood educators, impacting approximately 3,500 children during this critical foundational period of education.
Equity Among Students and Teachers
The Center’s College Readiness (CCR) programs, which provide AP, IB and college access counseling professional development, serve all 12 counties represented within the greater Houston area, with participation from 45 of 76 school districts represented (60%). Despite the pandemic, from August of 2020 through August of 2021 the CCR provided online training to 1,673 educators and AP exam preparation to 267 students from the greater Houston area. Additionally, the Center for Education produced 21 free webinars, through the Glasscock School’s OpenRice initiative. The webinars covered critical issues to educators and parents in the last 18 months like “transitioning to online learning,” “Creating Equity in the Virtual Classroom,” and “Classroom Discussions on Race.”
The Rice Center for Education reflects our mission as Houston’s open door to Rice University, positively impacting our youngest and most vulnerable Houstonians, as well as placing Rice-trained leaders in the workforce and in service to others.
Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate our Rice Center for Education students, everyone who supports them, and teachers across the globe making a positive impact on our future.
To support the Rice Center for Education, please contact our Development Director, Courtney Tardy, at 713-348-4881 or ctardy@rice.edu. Donations can also be made online. Please use the designation "other" and type Center for Education in the special instructions box to be sure that your gift will be allocated to our fund. Online donations can be made here: https://riceconnect.rice.edu/giving