The Broad Pipeline
Detroit Students Rally to the Challenge of Making a Difference in Their Home Community
Andrea Billups

Teacher preparation programs face criticisms and challenges over their commitment in preparing effective urban educators. Similarly, city districts face their own issues with recruitment and retention of teachers, with some reporting that more than half of their new teachers leave the profession within their first three years on the job.

But there is great hope afoot in the halls of Michigan State University’s College of Education. Enter a spirit-filled teacher-training pipeline, enabled by the benevolence of philanthropist Eli Broad, a Detroit Public Schools and MSU grad who became a renowned business leader and founder of two Fortune 500 companies.

Through his gifts, the college’s Broad Partnership is building a ladder between the college and Detroit Public Schools (DPS), allowing DPS students who have ambitions to teach on the home front to complete their teacher preparation at MSU.

“The Broad Partnership is a mutual investment by the College of Education and DPS in creating an effective model to try to address these very real challenges,” said Sonya Gunnings-Moton, an assistant dean for student support services and recruitment who directs the Broad program at MSU.

The Broad Partnerships includes three pipeline program components: the Broad High School Scholars Program, the Broad Future Teacher Scholarship and the Broad Summer Teaching Fellows Program. It is a competitive scholarship that is available only to graduates of DPS who are interested in pursuing a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification at MSU.

The scholarship is structured in the form of loan forgiveness. Students receive financial support to cover the cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) at MSU, valued at more than $60,000. Those who are awarded this scholarship agree to serve in the DPS system or another approved urban setting after they complete the program. The loans they receive are forgiven at the rate of one-third for each year of teaching service.

Gunnings-Moton says the students’ intimate knowledge of the Detroit schools and the issues facing DPS students make them the perfect candidates to give something back to their communities. Concentrated and rigorous preparation at MSU, she adds, gives them the knowledge, the skills and the dispositions to teach effectively in inner-city classrooms.

“We want to attract students who are interested in becoming effective urban educators,” said Gunnings-Moton, a dedicated defender of urban education who serves as mentor to her group of engaged future educators.

“The students we have now are among the very best and brightest from Detroit Public Schools,” she said proudly of the current Broad group. “We feel like their contributions will truly make a difference.”

For some Broad recipients, the training pipeline begins in high school, with students spending four weeks in the Broad Summer High School Scholar Program on MSU’s campus, getting their feet wet within the college environment.

Students may then compete for the Broad Future Teacher Scholarship award at MSU, and move on to graduated responsibilities in the classroom as they complete their education coursework. Through the Broad Summer Teaching Fellows Program, teacher candidates gain valuable hands-on experience as part of summer school offerings at several Detroit public schools. This exceptional experience paves the way for their professional entrance to the urban classroom, Gunnings-Moton says.

When Gunnings-Moton, an assistant professor of counseling, first proposed the Broad partnership in the fall of 2003, 21 students from DPS were enrolled in the College of Education. That figure now stands at 76, which, officials said, portrays a growth that can be linked to the Broad program. In addition, the summer teaching fellows program has doubled, with 68 MSU students going to the city this past summer to teach.
“We feel we have some serious momentum in this program,” Gunnings-Moton said. “Each of the invested partners recognize the tremendous impact this could have on our shared vision for improving DPS education.”

The Broad Partnership is not just benefiting the college but also the university as a whole, said College of Education Dean Carole Ames, who noted that the attendance rate from Detroit students at the university has risen 35 percent since the advent of the Broad Partnership.

“[MSU admissions administrators] attribute this rise to our program, and the collaborative work with the Office of Admissions,” Ames said. “This is a real winner for us. This college is making inroads on this campus in urban education.”


So what do these aspiring urban teachers have to say about their futures? Despite the challenges they face, most are excited about the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students who need them the most. Meet three top students who talk about how their Broad experience has helped to inspire their futures.
 

Darius Beasley
Freshman, attended Broad high school program, now a Broad Scholar.
Hopes to teach French.


The most valuable experience about the Broad Summer High School Scholars Program was meeting and talking to my professors. They gave me feedback on things that happened in class. In giving feedback they taught me indirectly about how to think about the world. My writing class (taught by Professor Dorothea Anagnostopoulos) was tremendous. I used to write very academic, very bland. She encouraged me to make it interesting, to think about details and to describe them, and that has helped me tremendously in all that I do. Even when I was in high school all my teachers complimented me. The summer program really turned around the way I think about and approach my writing, which is an important skill. I owe my new ability to that program.

“As a Broad Scholar, I am excited to come back to DPS. With this scholarship, I know by teaching what I like, I’ll be able to convey enthusiasm, and in turn, my students will want to learn. I am thrilled I get to teach where I came from. I will feel like I’m giving back to my mother system what it gave to me. I can return the nourishment that it needs. I do feel a sense of pride, too. It’s like I’m coming back and saying ‘I made it and so can you.’ I feel like my education is one of the best. I am so pumped to give that back to kids in DPS. I want people to know that education is just awesome. And we need good teachers to teach us and put us on another level of thinking.

“I would tell DPS students that even though teachers don’t get paid a lot and they go through rigorous training, there is still tons of satisfaction in seeing students do well and succeed. Being a teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs, probably one of the only ones where you can smile and have fun every day.

“This program here is very valuable. Even though you may think you can’t go to college, this program presents you with the support and the means and resources to keep you at MSU. You have faculty and advisors who keep you here and keep encouraging you and exposing you to everything at the university. It helps you to get here, it helps you to stay here and then with the rigorous study and preparation, it helps you to go somewhere after.

“I feel so confident now to be able to go out and teach well. The program allows you to see your shortfalls and strengths. By doing that, it’s preparing me to be a great teacher in the system.

“I so love it. I can’t wait until someone calls me ‘Mr. Beasley.’”

Katie Lynn Dauka
Graduate, Broad summer teaching fellow.
Hopes to teach English.

After that first year in the Broad Summer Teaching Fellows Program, I looked back and wanted to do it again. I’m glad that I did because I have so much more knowledge. I felt like I could really reach the students. To be completely honest, that first year I did it, I thought it was a great thing to try out as a summer job. When I got into the Detroit schools, I was like ‘wow!’ There is just something about being in the classroom in Detroit. I’m so passionate about this program and what it has done for me and my teaching.

“A lot of folks have a preconceived notion about what urban education is. This experience taught me not to believe what other people said. You hear statistics about urban schools. I worked with the kids who represent those statistics, and they are so much more advanced intellectually, maturity-level wise and real-world wise. People have no idea what urban education really is until they have worked in that setting.

“I come from a predominantly white town where I did not have any African-Americans in my high school class of 450 students. Through this fellowship experience, I have learned that our world is not homogenous. . . . but rich with diversity. In Detroit, there is huge diversity—Arab-American, Latino and African-American populations—just to name a few. The experience as a Broad Summer Teaching Fellow changed my life. I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to be a teacher. There were so many different things I considered doing. Teaching is so much work. But now, I really feel like there is no other way that I can make a real difference.”

Cierra Presberry
Junior, Broad scholar and summer teaching fellow.
Hopes to teach special education.


I want to teach special education to students with learning disabilities. The area I want to focus on is language arts. I like to read. I think reading is the most important aspect of education. You can’t learn unless you learn how to read and comprehend.

“I really care about students. I always knew I wanted to teach and to teach in Detroit, so the Broad Scholarship seemed like the perfect opportunity. I feel that it is important to have well-prepared teachers, especially in the city of Detroit. As a student, I knew I was going to college, but there are a lot of students who don’t, who need a push to get ahead. I feel that having my degree from MSU and the desire to go back to Detroit to teach . . . I can make education better for students. Just being a teacher, you can’t change the curriculum so much, but you can add things to it to advance your students.

“I also did the Broad summer fellowship and got tons of experience in the classroom. It wasn’t at all what I expected. You always have these dreams of how you will have the perfect class. But it takes a lot of preparation and it takes a lot of heart and dedication. A lot of times, the students may not care that you care about them. They may not care that you are trying to change their life or that you want them to learn. You just have to put your all into it so that they can realize that. It was difficult because of their circumstances. I knew to expect it but I didn’t know how to deal with it.

“I wanted them to see that I am from Detroit, too. Because I went to school and paid attention and didn’t let my circumstances get in the way of my goals, I have been able to succeed. I want them to know that they can do the same.“
 

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