Replicating Success

Nationwide, only two-thirds of mathematics teachers both majored in mathematics and are certified to teach. In physics, this number drops to one-third. As early as 2006, a report by the National Academies, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, identified UTeach, started at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 1997, as innovative program with the potential to significantly address science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teacher shortages. In that same year, the UTeach Institute was established with the goal of replicating UTeach on a national scale.

Averaging about 75 graduates per year, UTeach more than doubled the numbers of mathematics and science majors being certified to teach at UT Austin. Nearly 90% of UTeach graduates enter middle and high school classrooms, and about 80% are still teaching five years later. About half choose to teach in low-income schools. For more highlights and information on the results of the program, please visit our Program Results page.

The UTeach Institute helps other universities implement UTeach programs using a comprehensive approach aligned with research literature on program replication and expansion. Detailed in our paper, Replication as a Strategy for Expanding Educational Programs That Work: The UTeach Institute’s Approach to Program Replication, available on our Publications page, this approach emphasizes clear articulation of program elements, comprehensive planning with qualified sites, intensive implementation support, and ongoing evaluations of progress.

With every confidence in the quality of the UTeach program model and our approach to replication, progress at the first universities selected to replicate UTeach has nonetheless exceeded expectations. From Fall 2008 to Fall 2011, national student enrollment in UTeach programs grew from 519 to more than 5,500. We project that graduates of current 29 UTeach programs nationwide will teach more than 4 million secondary students by 2018. For more information on the national impact of UTeach replication, please download our National Replication Snapshot or current statistics.