ODESSA, TX (KWES) - School officials are calling it a work in progress.
"Our plan is to first re-position ourselves and redefine ourselves," said Dr. Selina Mireles, Dean of College of Education at U.T.P.B.
That plan is to retool U.T.P.B.'s College of Education. The change is to make sure students locally are on track starting from the beginning of their educational lives.
"It's important to see how we can look at these different elements that we have. For example, the STEM (Science Technology Engineering, Math) Academy, the idea of dual-credit. We have early childhood," said Mireles.
It's not just students but also teachers. Which means finding the right ones for the right subjects.
"It's this idea of continuous credentialing. We wanted to put teachers in an opportunity to get continuous field experiences early on. Even in their freshman year in college as oppose to waiting to student-teach," said Mireles.
Mireles sees the potential.
"We can look at it from the research perspective. We can look at it practitioner perspective. We're in a perfect situation to be a model," said Mireles.
A model for thousands of kids in the Permian Basin.
"I think that the hope is endless. It phenomenal," said Mireles.
It's something everyone involved helps boost education locally.
Dr. Mireles hopes to have the first instructions to the plan out by January or February 2018.
