UrbanPlan Teachers

Teachers

UrbanPlan (UP) is a realistic, engaging, university level PBL curriculum unit for economics and selected government classes. Developed at The Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley in collaboration with the Urban Land Institute and a team of high school economics teachers, UP aligns with state and NCEE content standards. All teachers on the curriculum development team teach in traditional classrooms in traditional public schools.

Teachers

Teachers Weigh In

“If you want students to understand how the concepts of trade-offs, risk, public good, supply and demand, and opportunity cost impact their lives, do UrbanPlan. They get a gut level understanding of how these forces influence the decisions they make in their proposals, and see that these decisions have profound, real world consequences.” 
- Ryan Stanley, Economics Teacher, Desert Vista HS, Phoenix, AZ

“Our seniors are required to take a government class and an economics class. They may ace the standardized tests on each subject…but it’s UrbanPlan that makes the principles they’ve learned in these separate classes come together. They take away a visceral understanding of how market forces and non-market forces clash and collaborate in our democracy to affect the quality of their lives.”
-Steve Teel, AP Government Teacher & Doug Powers, AP Economics Teacher Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA

Is UrbanPlan right for you and your students?

Every teacher teaching UrbanPlan has asked the same questions you are probably asking yourself now:

  • Can my students perform optimally on their standardized and/or AP tests if I incorporate UrbanPlan in my curriculum?
  • Will the value of the student takeaway be commensurate with the 15 class hours the program requires?
  • I teach 3 to 5 classes a day. I have no time to recruit or manage volunteers and no budget for any materials. Can a real teacher in a real school do this?

These teachers, including those in some of the country’s most demanding high schools have answered “Yes.” Additionally, over 98% of all teachers who introduce UrbanPlan (UP) in their curriculum continue teaching the program. Since its introduction in spring 2002 through spring 2011, UP has reached over 20,000 students in 14 states.

Download our Educator FAQ document to learn more, including:

  • What is UrbanPlan and who created it?
  • Who should teach UrbanPlan?
  • How does it work in the classroom?
  • What are the threshold competencies required for UrbanPlan?
  • Why is UrbanPlan right for me? My students?
  • Group projects skeptic? Why and how UrbanPlan is different.
  • How does UrbanPlan address core content standards and skills?
  • Why not use a “real project” in my town?
  • What are the resource demands on me and my school?
  • What teacher training is available?

Still have questions? Contact UrbanPlan Director Marisita Jarvis.

Marisita-Jarvis

Marisita Jarvis

UrbanPlan Director

marisita.jarvis@ULI.org

(510) 846-1453

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