Two new university partners announced

Charles Butt Foundation announces two new Raising Texas Teachers partner universities, bringing total to 16 partner teacher preparation programs across the state

At the Charles At the Charles Butt Foundation, our vision is that every student, in every classroom across Texas, has an effective teacher every year. To make that vision a reality, in 2017 the Foundation launched the Raising Texas Teachers program, a 10-year, $50 million teacher workforce program. This initiative is designed to achieve three primary goals:

1. Diversify and deepen the pool of teachers entering the field through the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers, 
2. Raise the overall quality of teacher preparation in the state by promoting continuous improvement in the field through deep collaborative partnerships with 27 university-based teacher preparation programs, including every preparation program in the Texas A&M System, and 
3. Elevate the status of the teaching profession through our partnership with #TeachersCan. 

At the outset of this initiative, the Foundation facilitated a competitive request for proposal process to identify some of the best university-based teacher preparation programs to recommend teacher candidates for the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers and work collaboratively to address persistent problems in teacher preparation. 

Through that process, we selected 12 programs at 10 universities:

• Our Lady of the Lake University
• Rice University
• Southern Methodist University
• Texas A&M College Station Special Education Program
• Texas Tech University
• Trinity University 
• The University of Houston
• The University of North Texas at Dallas 
• The University of Texas at Austin College of Education
• The University of Texas at Austin UTeach Natural Sciences
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

In the fall of 2021, Sam Houston State University and the University of Texas El Paso applied and were selected to join this group of exceptional teacher preparation programs. 

The Charles Butt Foundation is excited to announce two new Raising Texas Teachers partner universities – The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Texas State University, bringing the total to 16 partner teacher preparation programs across the state.

UTSA and Texas State have been engaged in programmatic improvement through Raising Texas Teachers since its inception. With the support of USPREP and the Charles Butt Foundation, and through strong collaboration with partner school districts, these institutions have transformed their teacher preparation programs to provide many of their teacher candidates the option for a yearlong residency experience, a proven approach for ensuring teacher candidates are effective teachers on their first day in the classroom. The acceptance of these institutions as partner university programs reflects years of hard work on the part of the faculty and staff to engage in continuous improvement and program redesign. 

All 16 partner teacher preparation programs will collaborate to address persistent problems in teacher preparation, and are eligible to recommend their teacher candidates to receive the Charles Butt Scholarship, an $8,000 per year scholarship that can cover expenses up to the cost of attendance for up to four years. To date the Foundation has awarded $10,396,000 to almost 700 scholarship recipients, of which  364 are currently pursuing their degree and 330 are currently teaching. 

In addition to financial support, the Charles Butt Scholarship provides mentorship, professional development, and participation in a statewide network of promising teacher candidates who are committed to teaching in the Texas public school system in either a majority-economically disadvantaged school (more than 50% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch) or in a shortage subject area (specifically math, science, bilingual, or special education). 

Applications for the Charles Butt Scholarship opened on October 10. Learn more about the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers and about our broader Raising Texas Teachers Program.