Center X is a coalition of professional credentialing and continuing education programs housed within the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. In the past ten years, Center X has awarded the preliminary teaching credential and Master of Education

Master of Education

The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...

 to more than 1700 teachers through its Teacher Education Program (TEP) and the Tier I administrative crendential and Master of Education to nearly 400 administrator's in training through its Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) .

History

Center X was founded in response to a report published by the University of California's

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 Advisory Committee calling for a transformation of the relationship between university teacher training programs and the public schools to employ prospective student teachers. In response to this report and the social upheaval in Los Angeles of the early 1990's

1992 Los Angeles riots

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...

, the newly formed center explicitly focused on some of the most impoverished areas in Los Angeles: East Los Angeles

East Los Angeles, California

East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...

, Pico Union, South Los Angeles

South Los Angeles

South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...

, and the Crenshaw District . Both of Center X's flagship professional programs, TEP and PLI, have a social justice emphasis as core to their work .

Efficacy

Although Center X works to staff some of the most difficult schools in Los Angeles, the program has seen success, in particular in the area of teacher retention. A 2003 study found that "Center X graduates stay in teaching at higher rates than national averages. As expected, retention decreases over time, yet even after 5 years, 70% of Center X graduates remain in the classroom compared to 61% of teachers nationally" .

For the 2010-2011 academic year, four TEP alumni were selected as United States Department of Education “Teaching Ambassador Fellows” .

Methods

Center X is specifically committed to Vygotskyian

Lev Vygotsky

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist, the founder of cultural-historical psychology, and the leader of the Vygotsky Circle.-Biography:...

 sociocultural learning theory and continues to do work around child development through language .

Projects

Center X provides ongoing development for urban educators and schools through eight projects. These include five subject matter Projects (Writing, Reading and Literature, Mathematics, Science, and History-Geography), the UCLA Parent Project, a National Boards Project, and a School Transformation Project .