Editorial: Pitt’s urban education certificate critical for education majors

The most significant challenges to the American education system often go unaddressed or under-addressed in college curriculums.

But on Tuesday, the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education announced a new certificate program that seeks to foster the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban education, a move that will hopefully usher in a new era of teacher training.

This summer, Pitt will offer classes for the Graduate School of Education Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Advanced Study in Teaching with an Area of Concentration in Urban Education.

The 15 credit hour program will focus on “strengthening classroom relations between educators and diverse student populations,” according to a University release.

The certificate includes classes that emphasize building relationships with families and communities and culturally responsive teaching methods, and highlights issues of race and poverty that can affect students’ learning experience.

The program is a small step, but it’s a positive and prominent one towards addressing the myriad issues that stem from poor relationships between students and teachers in urban schools. In order to close the achievement gap that leaves lower-income students behind, it is crucial that teachers and educators going to work in any area learn what kind of classrooms they’re stepping into before they arrive.

Urban schools often face the most challenges in the American education system, where a lack of funding, resources and adequate, experienced teachers set students up for a lifetime of disinterest in education.

Students in urban areas — specifically low-income, inner-city areas — are subject to higher risks of poverty, trauma, crime and family instability. These adversities, according to the Alliance for Quality Education, not only create significant barriers to early education, but correspond with higher dropout rates. Chicago children who did not attend early childhood education programs were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for violent crime by age 18 than their peers who did attend.

Because of monetary limitations, urban schools have trouble hiring and retaining teachers who can meet high demands. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, from 2011 to 2012, urban schools had the highest rates of teacher vacancies across all subjects.

Often, this means the least skilled teachers end up teaching the students who need the most support.

A history of institutional racism deeply rooted in urban education also means that students of color are disproportionately affected by limited funding and educational opportunities. In Pittsburgh, nearly 85 percent of public school teachers are white and more than 60 percent of students are from minority communities, according to a 2014 study by the National Council on Teacher Quality .

Programs like Teach for America and City Year — which place college students and recent graduates in urban schools for a specific period of time — are valuable. But it’s not enough to go somewhere with only the desire to help. Like any other job, there are socially and culturally specific factors that educators should take the time to understand before getting invested in a school.

Additionally, teachers and volunteers who take part in these programs don’t stick around for very long and won’t be able to continue on with kids as they get older. Urban schools often face high turnover rates of people coming and going, making it hard for children to form valuable connections, relationships or trust.

If we want to set students up for success and improve overall crime and employment rates in the long run, we must prepare permanent teachers to adapt and cater to the specific needs of urban schools and low-income students.

While Pitt’s new certificate offers an exceptional chance for students who might not get this kind of specific training otherwise, every college student majoring in education would benefit from a curriculum that teaches these skills.

At Pitt, students interested in the certificate can only apply once they receive their bachelor’s degree and must have a minimum 3.0 GPA and two letters of recommendation.

A similar program for undergraduates — without strict qualifications for entry — would ensure that every teacher is ready to take on outside factors such as poverty and trauma and effectively support their students’ needs inside the classroom.

There are a few undergraduate courses at Pitt that touch on these issues, including “Social Foundations of Education,” but none that fully immerse students in the kind of education that the new certificate program promises.

Schools are continually diversifying, and understanding the importance of cultural diversity will improve the landscape of all education, not just in urban schools.

Highly skilled teachers are not the only solution to pushing our urban schools to their highest potential. Properly funding under-resourced schools, providing social services in classrooms and investing in afterschool programs and extracurricular activities are necessary for allowing students to succeed. We have a long way to go in fully advancing our underperforming schools.

Passion is an exceptional trait for a teacher to possess, but so is a willingness to funnel that passion appropriately in their environment.

Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and crime, which is why we need to make education the great equalizer that it’s meant to be — especially for our urban communities.