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Frostburg State Receives $4 Million Grant From U.S. Department Of Education

Department of Education logo

This article originally appeared in the Bottom Line and is reprinted with permission.

Frostburg State University was recently awarded a $4 million grant through the Maryland Accelerates Teacher Education Program. The grant, which is in partnership with Garrett County and Frederick County public schools as well as FSU’s Master of Arts in Teaching, will serve to raise the number of certified teachers in Maryland schools. It will also provide a professional development path in which teachers will have the ability to mentor new education professionals.

The program is estimated to make a substantial impact on the community, with 40 new teachers joining the program and over 130 established educators becoming mentors. The grant will also aid approximately 4,500 students in rural communities. The program is aimed at subjects where there is a critical need for teachers.

‘Grow-Your-Own’ Efforts Continue at University of Central Florida

University of Central Florida (UCF) Consortium for Future Educators

Now in its third year, the University of Central Florida (UCF) Consortium for Future Educators is growing by leaps and bounds! On November 1, 2019, UCF hosted the third convening of the Consortium for Future Educators, including 16 Districts of Education in Florida, and over 80 participants. District leaders, lead teachers, high school students, and university faculty who partner with them came together to share knowledge and best practices as it relates to the creation, growth, and results of High School Teaching Academies and “grow-your-own” pathways.

Vanderbilt Peeks At Creek: From the Smokies to the Rockies, Creative Partnership and Commitment

Peabody College of Education   and Cherry Creek School District

The Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) is working with the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University to build bridges for the educators and counselors of the future. Cherry Creek chose Vanderbilt Peabody because of their commitment to excellence in developing transformative educators. You can learn more about Vanderbilt Peabody or refer aspiring educational leaders by visiting the website.

Beginning in 2020, the district will host five to eight students from Vanderbilt Peabody for an immersive, 6-day exploratory visit through a new partnership, “Vanderbilt Peabody Peeks at Creek.” Students pursuing their master’s degree in education and those enrolled in counseling programs at the university will be welcomed to the Cherry Creek School District, which spans 108 square miles across the Denver metro area. These students will have the chance to attend an interactive job fair, meet directly with principals and administrators, and tour a district that comprises 42 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 8 high schools, 1 magnet school, and 3 charter schools. The district also includes the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, a state-of-the-art facility designed to connect high school students with career and technical education for the 21st century. At the end of their visit to CCSD, Vanderbilt Peabody students will have skills, experience, and personal connections that will help pave the way to a career in education. What’s more, they will head back to the Peabody campus as ambassadors for the Cherry Creek School District and firsthand witnesses to its dedication to excellence.

Grant from U.S. Department of Education Allows Creation of New Teaching Program at UNCG

UNC-Greensboro’s (UNCG) School of EducationThis article originally appeared in The Carolinian and is reprinted with permission.

 With a new multi-million-dollar grant, UNC-Greensboro’s (UNCG) School of Education will create a new teaching program focused on bringing high-tech thinking to two rural North Carolina counties.

The 5-year, $6.1 million grant comes from the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program under the United States Department of Education.

UNCG School of Education will use the grant money to establish the Piedmont Teacher Residency Partnership. The Partnership will train new teachers in new technology and problem solving, and the teachers will be placed in some public schools in Rockingham and Surry counties.

California Rural Schools Struggling To Hire Teachers Could Get Help from $9.4 Million In Grants

This article and photo originally appeared in EdSource and are reprinted with permission.

Jennifer Garza, a 7th grade English teacher at Green Acres Middle School in Visalia, was teaching on an intern credential in 2015.

Two federal grants totaling over $9.4 million will help California recruit teachers and mental health professionals to rural schools.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the five-year grants to the California Center on Teaching Careers, an organization started in 2016 to help solve the persistent teacher shortage. The center is run by the Tulare County Office of Education, in partnership with California State University Bakersfield.

Black Male Teachers Have Positive Influence on Students of All Races

This op-ed article originally appeared in The State and is reprinted with permission.

I was wasting time on Twitter when I came across a post that stopped me mid-scroll. The original post posed a question: How many black male educators did you have in kindergarten through 12th grade.

One of my former students chimed in with a shocking number: 1…Coach Thorne.

That’s me; that’s who I was. I taught social studies at Blythewood High School for 11 years and was an assistant football coach.

At first glance, the number 1 seems to be an indictment and a referendum on what we in education circles have known forever—we need more black men in the classroom. But upon further inspection, with a little critical analysis, I believe there is power in one.

Statistics tell us that having just one African American teacher in elementary school reduces drop-out rates among black boys by nearly 40% and increases their recognition as gifted students.

But stats don’t tell the story.

A Community College Pathway into Teacher Education Increases Diversity in Teacher Candidates

Teacher reading with young students

The need to diversify the teaching workforce is well documented (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Student demographics across the United States have significantly changed in the last 20 years, with particular increases in bilingual and Hispanic student populations (Aud, Hussar, Kena, Bianco, Frohlich, Kemp, &Tahan, 2011). However, the teaching workforce has not reflected the shift in student demographics, and a growing gap has emerged between the racial and ethnic backgrounds of students and teachers. Because community colleges serve a high percentage of diverse students, a community college pathway into teaching represents a promising approach for increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce.

$5.3M Federal Grant Will Help Stem Majors Become Georgia Middle Grades Teachers

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Southern Regional Education Board a $5.3 million, 5-year Teacher Quality Partnership grant to create a residency-based teacher preparation program with Georgia College & State University.

The Georgia Residency for Educating Amazing Teachers will recruit undergraduate STEM majors who aspire to become middle grades math and science teachers. They will complete an online Master of Arts in Teaching during a year-long residency—practice teaching supervised by a mentor-teacher— in a high-needs middle grades classroom.

Rural school districts served by the Oconee Regional Education Service Agency in central Georgia will be the primary partners for hosting the residents in classrooms. SREB and Georgia College will support mentor-teachers and residents with coaching and specialized training on topics like project-based learning.

Over the course of the grant, 60 students will become fully certified to teach middle grades math or science in Georgia; some will also complete a computer science endorsement.

The newly certified teachers will then teach in a local school for two years with support from mentor-teachers and SREB instructional coaches. Participants agree to teach in their assigned schools for one year beyond this two-year induction period.

A Journey of Significance: UNC Colleges of Education, the Time to Act Is Now

Grant HayesIn 2017-18, North Carolina reported 1,618 teacher vacancies. Those represented classrooms that were without a teacher at worst or were without a properly trained teacher at best. At the same time, enrollment in the UNC system’s schools of education has dropped 30% since 2010.

Across the country, teacher shortages are affecting public education. In Oklahoma, the state has issued 3,000 emergency teacher certifications which allow people to begin teaching without education coursework, classroom experience or passing state certification exams. Data collected by the Oklahoma Association of Colleges for Teacher Education shows that emergency-certified teachers are rated lower and leave teaching at a higher rate. We do not want to see this troubling trend happen in North Carolina.

UNC system teacher graduates make up the bulk (37%) of teachers in N.C. public schools. UNC system teacher graduates are more likely to return in years 2-5, showing a commitment to the public schools of N.C. And UNC system science and math teacher graduates outperform teachers prepared in other ways.

In the coming months the East Carolina University College of Education will continue to showcase how we prepare our graduates to be the best in their chosen fields

Nominations Open: AACTE Diversified Teacher Workforce 2020 Teacher Diversity Research Award

The Teacher Diversity Research Award is presented by the AACTE Diversified Teacher Workforce (DTW) Topical Action Group (TAG) for outstanding research and advocacy related to various policies, practices, programs, pedagogies, systems, and/or institutions for the purpose of advancing teacher diversity. The research leadership embodied by the recipient of this award reflects the DTW TAG’s mission and goals and advances our current understanding of how to diversify our teacher workforce to enhance educational opportunities for all students. Recipients of this award have published articles, books, and /or created professional development services or products that function as tools and resources to help facilitate teacher education programs, leaders, and/or policymakers in strategic planning and project implementation that actualize the goal of creating a diverse teacher workforce in the 21st century. In addition, recipients of this award will evidence a service-minded disposition toward addressing teacher diversity in research and practice through their leadership and participation in the local community, school, and/or grassroots service efforts.

In recognition and honor of this important work, the recipient of this award will receive a $1,000 honorarium and be invited to give a featured research talk at our 2020 DTW Institute at the 2020 AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. Also, the recipient of the award must participate in the 2020 DTW Teacher Diversity Research Award Selection Committee and /or contribute to the planning of the 2021 DTW Institute.

In order to nominate someone (self-nominations accepted) for the DTW Teacher Diversity Research Award, email the following documents with “Teacher Diversity Research Award” as the subject line to Marvin Lynn at coe-dean@pdx.edu by December 15, 2019:

MSU Receives Funding for Five-Year Project to Educate Teachers to Fill Jobs in Rural Montana

Rural Montana

Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

This article and photo originally appeared on the Montana State University website and are reprinted with permission.

Montana State University’s Department of Education and its partners have received funding totaling $6.2 million for a program delivered mostly online that is designed to recruit, train and mentor dozens of high-quality educators to work in rural areas of Montana.

The funds include a $3.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and more than $3.1 million in matching funds and services from nearly a dozen partner organizations. They will be used for a five-year project, “Addressing Rural Recruitment and Retention in Montana,” that aims to address a shortage of teachers in rural locations across the state.

“We are excited to provide training and professional development in the first two years of their teaching careers to residents of rural, high-needs communities along with the Montana Office of Public Instruction and our many statewide partners,” said MSU education professor Ann Ewbank, the project’s principal investigator.

“Our common goal is to ensure that every student, from Broadus to Lolo, and from Scobey to Troy, has access to highly effective educators,” Ewbank added. “The Teacher Quality Partnership grant has the potential to strengthen K-12 education in rural communities. When rural schools thrive, Montana thrives.”

Exploring Careers in Education at Teacher Scholars Summer Institute

This article and photo originally appeared on the Engage TU-Towson University blog and are reprinted with permission.

The Towson Univerity (TU) Teacher Scholars Summer Institute premiered this summer (July 15–18) in an effort to recruit high school students into teaching. This was also an effort to work more closely with our Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) program.

One of our main goals was to assist in recruiting more underrepresented students into the field of education, which is predominantly composed of white females across the nation. Conversely, about half of K–12 students are from diverse backgrounds and/or are male.  We are also facing a critical shortage of teachers in the U.S., and Maryland is facing the same issues. In fact, all 24 counties in Maryland are experiencing a shortage of teachers based on the last Maryland State Department of Education Staffing Report.  In addition, enrollments at TU and across the nation have been declining in education programs. Therefore, we were piloting this program to help create a pipeline of more teachers, as well as more diversity among teachers.

Why America Needs More Black Male Teachers

Black male teacher working with student

This article and photo originally appeared in EdSurge and are reprinted with permission. 

Two percent. That figure may seem insignificant, until you understand the context. Despite students of color representing more than half the student population, Black males make up only two percent of the teacher workforce. So as it happens, that statistic is very significant as this lack of diversity has negative implications for all students.

For years, Black males have been underrepresented in PK-12 education. While there have been many efforts to diversify classrooms by adding more Black male educators, there are still obstacles preventing us from successfully reaching this goal. Now these educators are speaking up and their voices are sounding the alarm for education diversity.

For years, Black males have been underrepresented in PK-12 education.

The Push to Get More Teachers of Color in Special Education Classrooms

Teacher of color working with two students

The excerpt below is taken from an article originally published in Ed Week and is reprinted with permission.

It’s a constant struggle for school districts across the country to find qualified special education teachers. An extra challenge: finding special educators of color to help meet the needs of a student population that can be disproportionately nonwhite.

Just over 82 percent of special education teachers in public schools are white, according to 2011-12 federal data, the most recent available. Meanwhile, only about half of students receiving special education services are white, according to 2017-18 data.

Yet teacher diversity matters: Decades of research has shown that students often perform better academically when they are taught by teachers of the same race.

“The special education field is really prime to recruit faculty of color,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez,

Cooperation Helping Address Va. Teacher Shortage

Jane Bray

This article originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot and is reprinted with permission.  

SOME SAY mountains cannot be moved, but the commonwealth has done just that.

Achieving solidarity among educators, politicians, policymakers, higher education institutions and leaders from across Virginia, the effort to combat the teacher shortage in our classrooms has been nothing short of truly astonishing.

On June 20, the Virginia Board of Education gave the final seal of approval for 53 four-year undergraduate degree programs in teacher education at 15 institutions of higher education across the state.