Growing the Teacher Pipeline
In order to recruit and prepare high quality educators to enter the teaching workforce, the College of Education participates in initiatives and partnerships that target high school students, community college students and graduates, and alternative routes to licensure candidates.
Paraprofessional Pathways Project (PPP)
Thanks to support from UNLV, Teach for America, the Clark County School District and others, this program helps education support staff (i.e., paraprofessionals) pursue Nevada licenses and pursue teaching careers in early childhood, elementary, and special education. The program's coursework is offered outside educators’ contracted work schedules, in some cases using 4-, 8-, and 16-week courses. Class types (e.g., live in-person, live online, hybrid, all online) also will vary. Students who have met the general university core requirements and prerequisites may complete their program in as little as four semesters. Admitted students maintain their current employment by coordinating practicum and student teaching experiences on their school campuses in coordination with school leaders.
Multicultural Educational Services Alliance (MESA)
Funded through the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) Great Teaching and Leading Fund (GTLF), the MESA team’s mission is to end Nevada’s teacher shortage and to diversify its teacher workforce. Learn more about their signature project, Abriendo Caminos/Opening Pathways, which seeks to build and sustain a bridge from students and families to PK-12 schools, to various community partners and to the UNLV College of Education.
Dual Enrollment Programs
Through various dual enrollment program options, the College of Education offers university-level teacher preparation classes for high school students. These courses may be offered on-site at participating high schools and/or at the UNLV main campus.
Teach For America
With a partnership established in 2004, the UNLV College of Education is proud to offer Alternative Route to Licensure (ARL) program coursework for Teach For America Las Vegas Valley corps members.
Troops to Education
Troops to Education (née Troops to Teachers) was established in 1993 to assist transitioning service members and veterans in beginning new careers as K-12 school teachers in public, charter, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. The program provides counseling and referral services for participants to help veterans meet education and licensing requirements to teach. The UNLV College of Education is proud to offer Alternative Route to Licensure (ARL) program coursework for Troops to Education participants.
Professional Development Programs
The College of Education leads instructional activities to further professional development for CCSD professionals in STEM, Literacy, ELL, and other content domains.
Project E3
Project E3: Enhancing, Engaging, and Empowering Teachers for the Next Generation of English Learners is a federally funded grant sponsored by the office of English Language Acquisition in the U.S. Department of Education that seeks to improve classroom instruction for early childhood English Language Learners (ELLs) through advanced teacher practices and to study the effectiveness of professional development in making long-term shifts in teachers’ practices.
Professional Growth Plan (PGP) Courses
Educators and licensed professionals have many options to participate in professional development activities aligned to their PGP that is developed in collaboration with their supervisor. In general, professional development activities are assigned CUs associated with the time that the educator or licensed professional participates in these activities outside of the contractual workday.
Student Services
The College of Education provides direct educational and clinical services to K-12 and university-level students.
Rebel Summer Series
The Rebel Summer Series (RSS) is a 5-week summer learning opportunity intended to serve students entering Grades 2-5. Participants have access to programs and activities designed to support their academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes. Web-based courses and activities in Science, Literacy, and Character Education are offered.
Project F.O.C.U.S.
Project F.O.C.U.S. (Forming Occupational and Community Understanding for Success) is a 2-year post-secondary education program for young adults with intellectual/developmental disability, including Autism. F.O.C.U.S. uses the principles of the Universal Design for Learning and Person Centered planning to provide a 100% inclusive program that helps college students achieve current and future academic, independent living, and employment goals.
Motivational Systems Lab
The mission of the Motivational Systems Lab is to examine personal and contextual factors that influence student motivation and engagement in a variety of educational settings.
Content Area and Language Learning (CALL) Research Lab
The CALL research team focuses on its active research agenda on better integrating content and language and improving the learning conditions for English and dual language learners (i.e., ELLs and DLLs). The team is committed to studying the contiguous development of language, literacy, and content areas, such as mathematics, science, social studies, among these populations from preschool to post-secondary schooling.
Gayle A. Zeiter Literacy Center
The Zeiter Center serves the community by providing:
- professional development opportunities through workshops, conferences, and literacy education courses to teachers and university students;
- family engagement opportunities in developing children’s joy of reading and writing;
- one-on-one literacy tutoring services to K-8 students within Clark County School District; and
- a venue for conducting scholarly activity that improves children’s literacy and professionals’ literacy education.
Program Evaluation & Intervention
To meet the growing demands of high-needs schools, the College of Education actively engages in needs assessments and other evaluation activities that guide intervention.
Interaction & Media Science Lab
The IMS Lab is an interdisciplinary space that specializes in state-of-the-art-research into human-computer-interaction, video games, game-based models, virtual reality, and simulations. Researchers focus their study on understanding technology from the human perspective, specifically in the context of human learning, behavior, and socio-emotional competencies.
Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment
CREA is dedicated to improving evidence-based decision making in a variety of sectors through the production of high quality design, implementation and interpretation of research-based evaluation and assessment. CREA works with clients in the community, including municipalities, nonprofits, and other organizations, to address their research, evaluation, and assessment needs.