Two of the eleven people named Educators of the Year by the California League of High Schools are graduates of the Teacher Education Program at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School. The winners are Natalie Behr (Single Subject Teaching Credential, M.Ed., 2011)--who was also a Noyce Scholar--in Region 2 and Faraaz Qureshi (Single Subject Teaching Credential, M.Ed., 2011) in Region 7.
The California League of High Schools (CLHS) Educator of the Year award is given annually to 11 educators, representing regions throughout California, who exemplify educational excellence and have made significant efforts to implement elements of educational reform in high schools. Up to 10 finalists from each region will be honored locally. The nominee selected to represent each region will subsequently be honored at the CLHS Annual Conference. Nominees may be teachers, administrators, counselors, or other certificated personnel.
Natalie Behr teaches seventh- through 12th- grade science, biology, physics, anatomy, and physiology at Princeton Junior-Senior High School in Colusa County. Faraaz Qureshi teaches algebra at ArTES — the Arts Theater Entertainment School — one of four individual schools that make up the Cesar Chavez Learning Academies in the San Fernando Valley.
Both UCSB's Teacher Education Program and its School Psychology program received full re-accreditation with notable accolades included in the official report after their 2011 California Commission on Teacher Credentialing review. TEP offers a rigorous, 13-month, post-graduate M.Ed.+Credential program (an academic year with 2 summers). It is one of the highest quality programs in the nation, with state-of-the art practice grounded in partner schools, a focus on teaching to reach ALL learners, and teacher educators with established records of success. TEP works with one cohort of teacher candidates per year and keeps the program small to ensure individualized attention for each teacher candidate (approximately 100 candidates). Course- and field-work is concurrent, which means candidates spend the entire academic year in schools, developing their practice with daily guidance, then extending their learning in afternoon/evening courses. This allows for a more streamlined, purposeful integration of university and fieldwork, which drives our faculty to collaborate across all aspects of teacher preparation. TEP strives for a community of learners where everyone – teacher candidates, teacher educators, and K-12 teachers – are working together to meet the needs of our new, our diverse, and our very different generation of learners.
TEP offers a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential for elementary school teachers; a Single Subject Teaching Credential for junior high or high school teachers in: English, Math, Social Science, World Language (French, German, Latin, and Spanish), and Science (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics); and, an Education Specialist Moderate/Severe Teaching Credential for special education teachers.