What is the Houston Teachers Institute?

The Houston Teachers Institute is a partnership between the Houston Independent School District and the University of Houston. We arrange fifteen-week academic seminars lead by university professors to public school teachers each spring. The topics are suggested by teachers themselves, and those who participate - Institute Fellows - become members of the university community with access to university libraries, parking, computers, and other facilities. While participating in the seminars, Fellows prepare a "curriculum unit" to be used during the next academic year; these units are published by the Institute, making them available to other teachers in the district so that they can have the broadest possible effect.

Teachers completing the program receive 32 hours towards Gifted-and-Talented certification and an honorarium of $1,000.

Who may participate in Institute Seminars?

Any full-time HISD teacher is eligible to apply.

What kinds of Seminars are offered and how do they work?

Seminar topics are chosen by teachers in the participating schools. The Institute finds faculty members who are experts in the areas suggested by teachers and are willing to lead the seminars. Seminar topics range from themes in literature and history to science and art. Seminars meet once a week for two hours throughout the spring semester of each year, with time off for both UH and HISD spring breaks. Each seminar is limited to about twelve public school teachers. Faculty members put together a syllabus and reading list that is distributed prior to the seminars meetings. During these meetings, Fellows discuss with each other and the seminar leader both the reading they have done and the development of their curriculum units.

What are the requirements of the Institute program?

Each teacher agrees to participate fully in program activities by attending the convocation, and all seminar meetings.

Teachers are expected to research both the seminar subject and their curriculum unit topic. Fellows are expected to meet due dates in preparing a 15-25 page curriculum unit consistent with the Institute's published guidelines. Each Fellow submits an evaluation of the program the summer following the seminar. Fellows teach the units they develop in their classrooms the year following their participation.

What benefits are given to Institute participants?

• All teachers who successfully complete Institute requirements are awarded an honorarium of $1,000 in the fall after they participate.
• Teachers receive 32 of the 45 hours of credit required for Gifted- and-Talented Certification.
• HTI provides the opportunity to work closely and extensively with a UH faculty member in a field related to the teacher's own interests.
• The Institute provides teachers with a chance to learn at UH for an entire semester and to experience the pleasure of renewing their affection for the subject they teach in the company of a dozen likeminded colleagues from a variety of HISD schools.
• Teachers are able to prepare a thoroughly researched teaching unit under the guidance of a UH faculty expert.
• Teachers admitted to the program become Institute Fellows and full members of the University of Houston community for the length of the seminar term, which runs from January through June.
• Free parking permit for the UH campus, borrowing privileges at the UH libraries, and free access to UH computing facilities.

Does participation count towards any certification?

Teachers receive 32 hours towards the 45 hours required for Gift and Talented Certification. (Twelve hours in Creativity and Instructional Strategies and 20 hours in Differentiated Curriculum. If you have the needed hours in the area or areas approved, you may want to count it as part or all of the 15 additional clock hours needed. These 15 hours may be in any of the core areas.)

The Institute sends official certificates of participation listing total hours of classroom involvement to all teachers who complete the annual program. These certificates may be used as documentation to help satisfy other HISD professional development requirements.

Is there any cost to participate in a Seminar?

There is no charge whatsoever to become an Institute Fellow. No UH registration or student fees are required of any Institute Fellow. In fact, all participants, on completing Institute requirements, receive a $1000 honorarium in the fall after their participation.

Is there an honorarium for participants?

All Fellows who successfully complete their seminars and curriculum units are awarded a $1,000 honorarium in the autumn after their participation. Teacher Representatives in participating schools also receive a $500 stipend annually in recognition of their responsibilities in making the program a success.

Where and when do Seminars meet?

All seminars meet on the UH campus in seminar rooms selected by the faculty leader of each seminar. They meet for two hours, once a week, from 5:30- 7:30PM, regularly on Monday or Tuesday evenings.

How does the Institute application process work?

In applying to the Institute, teachers select the seminar in which they would like to participate and in a short essay of 250-500 words describe the unit topic through which they plan to incorporate material from the seminar in their own teaching. In applying to the Institute, teachers are requested to make both a first and second choice regarding the seminar in which they would like to participate. The completed application form, with attached essay, is reviewed both by the school principal and by an Institute admissions committee composed of teachers and the Director.

The principal reviews each teacher's application and verifies that each applicant is proposing to work on a topic that is consistent with that school's curriculum program and that the teacher will be permitted to teach his or her unit in the year following the teacher's participation.

How can I contact the Institute?

Click here to contact the Institute.