Milwaukee (November 24, 2009)
Earlier today, Governor Jim Doyle visited Alverno College to discuss the College’s innovative teacher programs and the importance of developing great teachers tomorrow.
The visit coincides with the national “Race to the Top” initiative led by President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

The $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” fund offers grants to states leading the way in school innovation and reform. Before speaking to the media, Governor Doyle met privately with Alverno College administration and students to learn more about Alverno’s unique teacher preparation methods.

Approximately 85% of Alverno College education graduates are still in classrooms five years after graduation. Nationally, half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years.

“Programs like Alverno’s are the major heart of our (Race to the Top) application,” Doyle said.  “Alverno has really created pathways in so many areas, not only in education, but nursing and other programs.”

Doyle notes Alverno’s inroads into urban areas
Governor Doyle highlighted how Alverno teachers have made particular inroads in urban schools, a major focus of “Rise to the Top.” He pointed to Alverno alum, Adam Gerber, who teaches fifth grade at Messmer Preparatory Catholic School along with Katie Clements, a student teacher at Milwaukee Vincent High School.

Gerber earned his undergraduate degree before becoming a teacher’s aide at Messmer. Through the Urban Education Fellows program, a program in partnership with Mount Mary College, he continued to teach in the classroom while attending graduate school in the evenings.

Clements, an English major, began as a substitute teacher. She was in the AmeriCorps Vista program and chose Alverno for her Licensure to Master’s program because she wanted to learn to “teach (English), not just study it.” She went on to say, “Without the support of Alverno, I couldn’t get through it.”  This program, for women and men, is for those who already have their bachelor’s degree and seek a teaching license.

Both Gerber and Clements met with Doyle before the news conference along with the following Alverno College administrators: Kathleen O’Brien, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Mary Diez, Dean of Graduate Studies; Nancy Jelen, Dean of Education; and Rita Nawrocki-Chabin, Director of the Licensure to Master’s Program.

“So much of the discussion on Milwaukee’s education has been what is good for adults,” Doyle said. “It hasn’t been what is good for the students and teachers. We need to make sure teachers in classrooms are fully prepared.”

In addition to Governor Doyle’s visit, Alverno College was also spotlighted by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a speech on Teacher Preparation in late October. In the highly critical speech, Duncan named Alverno among eight colleges and universities he referred to as “shining examples.”

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