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Center for Innovative Educator Preparation

Innovating Educator Preparation for Stronger Schools and Communities

Learn how to become a teacher and join new training programs. At our core, the Center for Innovative Educator Preparation helps make teacher and leader preparation more accessible. We aim to help address teacher shortages, fill gaps in the research literature, and connect schools and the broader community to support today’s classrooms. Learn how to become a teacher and join innovative teacher preparation pathways.

Who We Serve

  • Anyone who seeks a career as an educator
  • Local Education Agencies
  • State Education Agencies
  • Education Researchers and Grant Writers
  • Philanthropic organizations who support educator preparation
  • Professional educator organizations
  • Others who seek to innovate and improve educator preparation

What We Do

  • Innovation Incubation Sessions: Faculty from across the university are invited to innovation incubation sessions to generate ideas and help one another develop implementation plans and/or plans to generate needed resources, including grant proposal development, to fund innovative projects related to educator preparation. Sessions will be held multiple times per semester.
  • Partnership Development Support: As faculty work do develop partnerships with local education agencies, CIEP staff are available to support this work and will help guide you through the LEA partnership process designed by the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Dean’s Office.
  • Support for development of dual-enrollment pathways that are focused on educator preparation.
  • Support for collaborating and communicating with the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Higher Education
  • Educator preparation policy development and advocacy support

Our Values

The purpose of Center for Innovative Educator Preparation at the University of Northern Colorado is to develop and study innovative practices that increase access to and improve the preparation of candidates in educator preparation programs at UNC, resulting in better educational outcomes for children. The Center promotes programs, practices, policies, and research that support effective educator preparation practices. The Center also provides leadership and coordination for projects and programs to improve educator preparation within the University and at the local, state, and national levels.

The Center will enhance UNC’s position as a forerunner in educator preparation in Colorado and as a leader across the country by identifying and significantly reducing barriers and providing access for all individuals who aspire to become teachers, school psychologists, school counselors, and school and district leaders. Through these efforts, the Center will increase the number and diversity of candidates successfully completing UNC educator preparation programs.

Working in special education has been a truly transformative experience, helping me understand myself better. Just this year, I began receiving support from an occupational therapist, further solidifying my personal journey. My personal experience fuels a strong, unwavering passion: I do not want any child to fall through the cracks as I did. My ultimate goal is to help as many students as possible throughout my career. Becoming a teacher has been a long-held dream that I honestly never thought I would be able to pursue.

– Jennifer Hayden

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