The Flint - Smart Teachers As Role Models (STAR) Program

Funder: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Amount: $106,782
Funding Period: 9/1/07 – 8/31/08

The Flint – STAR Program is a collaborative effort between Mott Community College, serving as the fiscal sponsor, Baker College of Flint, and the University of Michigan-Flint designed to increase the diversity of those who pursue teaching as a career. The primary intent of this collaboration is to build upon a research-based model and use measurable results, particularly in Michigan, to resolve an acute societal and educational problem – namely, an extreme lack of diversity among those who pursue a teaching degree and placement in Flint-area elementary and secondary schools. The Flint - STAR Program focuses on providing a leadership development co-curriculum for students in a teacher education program at each of the three collaborative institutions in order to address substantial educational inequities within the elementary and secondary schools of Genesee County. The STAR program design complements the existing formal teaching education and certification program within the collaborative institutions with the addition of key affective programmatic elements including required weekly seminars, personal development, academic advising, assignment of personal coaches, tutoring, leadership development, standardized testing preparation, conference attendance, participation in professional teacher organizations, and field experiences.