Urban Semester Program

Urban Semester Program

Launched in 1997, the Urban Semester Program is a collaborative effort between Ball State's Teachers College and College of Sciences and Humanities. The program places education majors in Indianapolis urban schools during their junior year. They receive hands-on teaching experience while completing coursework at the school site. The urban semester offers a real world experience and improves attitudes regarding diversity. See a video on the secondary urban semester.

Nationally Recognized

The Urban Semester Program received the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) 2004 Best Practice Award in support of diversity.

The program also won the 2002 Award for Excellence in Integrating Science and Mathematics from the School of Science and Mathematics Association

The Urban Semester model was recognized as a Best Practice at the fifth annual conference of the Holmes Partnership in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January 2001. During the break-out sessions, Susan Johnson and Patty Hughes highlighted the urban semester in their presentation entitled "The Urban Experience: A Project of Simultaneous Renewal for Ball State University and Indianapolis Public Schools."

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about the elementary urban semester.

Student Perspective

AJ Hunter
"My name is AJ Hunter, and I�m an elementary education major. This semester I will be writing about my experiences in the Urban Experience Semester program in Indianapolis. MORE...

Pamela Mouchaham and Amanda Barnhart
Pamela and Amanda are two of 30 elementary preservice teachers who participated in the Urban Semester Program during fall 2006. They share some of their experiences working in an urban elementary school. MORE...

Steve Loser
English/language arts education major Steven Loser talks about the urban semester. MORE...

Faculty Perspective

Annette Leitze
"One of the aspects of this program that is typically not done in most on-campus classes is that we give our students training in dealing with students of poverty." MORE...

Jane Hughes
"The urban semester is an immersive program for secondary students in all disciplines. It is very intense and it's very demanding and the students that do this program are much better prepared to go into any kind of teaching because of their expanded number of hours in the classroom." MORE...