Professional Growth
UFT Teacher Centers
The Teacher Center operates sites at approximately 300 schools of all levels in all regions of the city. There you can:
- Find instructional resources, computer access and the math and literacy coaches at those schools.
- Plan instruction, lessons, units and projects with Teacher Center staff.
- Problem-solve classroom management situations.
- Learn to use multimedia equipment to prepare for interdisciplinary teaching.
- Take professional development seminars and courses.
Networking, Learning Opportunities
If you want a change of scene, to meet other new teachers who are facing
the same challenges and to expand your repertoire of skills, the Teacher
Center can help. It offers:
- Study groups, seminars, summer institutes and content area conferences and courses.
- Exciting conferences throughout the year focusing on educational issues. Recent ones included “Evaluating the Quality of Student Writing” and “The XYZs of Algebra.”
- Many of these professional activities are cost-free or low-fee. For current listings, see the union paper, New York Teacher’s TNT (The Newer Teacher) page and www.ufttc.org.
Master’s Degrees and College Credits
Thousands of UFT members enroll each year in the UFT Teacher Center’s own “university.” In partnership with a variety of colleges, the union provides reduced-tuition graduate-level courses to enable you to qualify for state certification or a salary differential, earn a master’s degree or simply upgrade your teaching skills.
For the master’s programs, you have to apply to and be accepted by the sponsoring university. Among the degree programs, which have diverse concentrations too complex to detail here, are those in:
- Dual education and special education (grades 1-6).
- Instructional technology.
- Liberal studies.
- Literacy.
- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), with an optional bilingual extension.
- Urban and multicultural education.
Certificate programs include:
- Computers in education.
- Instructional technology and global perspectives.
- Teacher leadership.
There also are graduate-level general education classes in which you can explore subjects that interest you while earning credits toward salary differentials. They cover everything from assessment and behavior management to reading and teaching strategies to mathematics and special education.
National Board Certification
After you have completed three years of teaching experience, you might consider working toward voluntary national board certification — a designation that not only would bring you to the city’s top salary differential, but also would mark your emergence as one of the nation’s most accomplished teachers.
National certification comes from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an organization that grew out of an idea from our national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers. The UFT Teacher Center furthers this vision by providing support through the demanding certification process.
This certification attests that you have reached a level of excellence in your field based on rigorous standards. The standards are primarily written for and by teachers and articulate exemplary teaching practices.
UFT Conferences
Every year the UFT holds two gala events for all its members. In November there’s Teacher Union Day, when the UFT remembers the strike in 1960 that led to the first UFT negotiated contract. At that event the union honors its members, old and new, for their service to the union cause. It provides an opportunity for new teachers to learn about the struggles that shaped this union in the past and to be a part of the union in the future.
In May there’s the UFT Spring Conference. Educators, parents, advocates, elected officials and representatives of the city and state departments of education gather to debate, discuss and present information about the latest in educational practice and policy in workshops, forums and speak-outs, many designed especially for our newer members.
here are exhibitors on hand and a luncheon at which the union bestows the coveted John Dewey Award upon the person who has advanced the cause of teachers and teacher unions. Past recipients of this award include Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and Edward Kennedy.
Many school chapters attend as a group, bringing along members of their school leadership teams.
For more information on these events look for ads in the New York Teacher.
UFT Professional Committees
UFT Professional Committees can enhance your academic growth through such activities as conferences, seminars, trips and newsletters. Organized according to subject areas, ethnic heritage and special interests, they allow teachers to meet with like-minded colleagues to keep abreast of the latest developments in their areas of interest. Look in the Events column or the UFT Calendar in the New York Teacher for upcoming activities.
Call 1-212-598-7772 for contact information for specific committees.
- African American Heritage
- Albanian American Heritage
- Asian American Heritage
- Association of Family & Consumer Science Educators/UFT (AFCS)
- Association of Teachers of Social Studies/UFT
- Capably Disabled
- Computer Technology
- English as a Second Language/Bilingual
- English Language Arts Council (ELAC)/UFT
- Hellenic American Educators Assn/UFT
- Hispanic Affairs
- Humane Education
- Irish American Heritage
- Italian American Heritage
- Jewish Heritage
- Library
- Math Teachers
- Media
- NYC Art Teachers Association/UFT (NYCATA)
- NYC Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT
- NYC Coaches Association/UFT
- NYC Dance Educators/UFT
- NYC Music Teachers Association/UFT
- Outdoor Environmental Education
- Per Diems
- Players (Theater)
- Runners
- Science
- Social and Recreational
- Special Education
- Veterans
- Women’s Rights
DOE Professional Development Opportunities
- The After-School Professional Development Program offers a wide range of classes that you may use when working toward your pay differential.
- The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) offers teachers the opportunity to receive college credits by earning qualifying scores on CLEP tests. Subject to limitations, CLEP credits earned in professional education subjects and other appropriate subjects may be applied toward meeting the certification/licensing requirements of the New York State Education Department and/or the New York City Department of Education. In addition, appropriate CLEP credits may be applied toward salary differentials.
View a listing of CLEP tests available.