UAF RURAL EDUCATOR PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICANTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2000

Fairbanks, Alaska - Rural Alaska residents, especially Alaska Natives, who have always wanted to be a teacher can take advantage of a unique program through the University of Alaska Fairbanks that can help them earn a state teaching certificate in their own hometowns.

According to Rural Educator Preparation Partnership Director John Weise, Alaska imports many of its new educators for rural areas from outside the state. Unaccustomed to cultural differences and isolation often afforded in small villages, the turnover rate can be as high as 50 to 100 percent each year.

"In such an environment, parents and kids can't make a connection with teachers, and districts can't provide the training teachers need to be successful," Weise said. "Alaskan school districts want desperately to hire well-qualified Native teachers who are at home in rural Alaska."

The goal is to increase the number of Alaska Native educators in the state by providing alternatives to urban-based teacher education programs. Alaska rural residents with bachelor degrees gain teaching certificates without leaving the village.

More than 20 years of studies and reports have recommended stabilizing and improving the rural teaching force by training Alaska Native teachers, according to Weise.

"REPP is turning the traditional model on its head - support and learning opportunities come to the student, not the other way around," he said.

REPP departs from traditional campus-based programs by providing student teaching in the village and by creating systems that connect isolated teacher interns with a statewide support system. The program is a partnership with Alaska's school districts and the state education department.

Weise said traditional methods of training Native teachers for service in rural Alaska have not been as successful as many parents and educators would like. Alaska's rural residents often experience great difficulty adjusting to large, urban college environments. In addition, relocating for semester-long classes disrupts subsistence hunting and fishing, and disconnects the bonds of extended families in rural areas, he said.

In 1998, Native children made up about 25 percent of the state's K-12 population, yet less than five percent of Alaska teachers are Native.

REPP's innovative, non-traditional approach to providing a teacher certificate is approved by the Alaska State Board of Education. The program's success can be measured by the number of new teachers in Alaska. Since 1997, REPP has graduated 43 teachers representing 18 rural school districts. Currently, there are 26 teacher interns involved in the program, but more are needed.

The Rural Educator Preparation Partnership is accepting applications until April 30, 2001 from individuals who already have at least a bachelor's degree and may be eligible for the program as an intern. Applications packets are available at the REPP office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks upon request to fnmet@uaf.edu or by phone at (907) 474-5589.

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CONTACT: REPP Director John Weise, at 907-543-4502 or email: lnjw@uaf.edu, or Marty Thomas, Assistant to the Director, at (907) 474-5589, fnmet@uaf.edu.

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

START DATE:           March 28, 2001

STOP DATE:            April 30, 2001

SUBJECT:                UAF RURAL EDUCATOR PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICANTS

DATE & TIME:         Now through April 30, 2001

LOCATION:             University of Alaska Fairbanks

DETAILS:               

If you're living in rural Alaska and have a bachelor's degree you may be eligible to earn your teaching certificate through the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rural Educator Preparation Partnership.

REPP departs from traditional campus-based programs by providing student teaching in the village and connecting isolated teacher interns with a statewide support system.

Applications will be accepted until April 31, 2001. For more information contact the REPP office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks at 907-474-5589 or email: fnmet@uaf.edu.

The program is a partnership with Alaska's school districts and the state education department.

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CONTACT: REPP Director John Weise, at 907-543-4502 or email: lnjw@uaf.edu, or Marty Thomas, Assistant to the Director, at (907) 474-5589, fnmet@uaf.edu.

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