$1.45M NSF Grant Awarded to Longwood University to Expand STEM Teacher Pipeline to Rural Areas

Longwood University faculty members were recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $1.45 million to recruit and support future secondary school teachers who want to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects in Southside and southwestern Virginia.

The NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant will fund a five-year project that aims to serve the national need for preparing and retaining highly qualified science and mathematics teachers to teach in rural, high-need school districts. The grant will be used to provide scholarships and academic support to 20 undergraduate students, 14 of whom will be transfers from the Virginia Community College System who will major in biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics and pursue a STEM teaching career.

IUP Receives $1.19 Million to Address Need for STEM High School Teachers

Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been selected to receive $1.19 million from the National Science Foundation through the Noyce Scholarships and Stipends program to help address the critical need for effective Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers in Pennsylvania’s high schools.

Holly Travis, dean’s associate for Educator Preparation in the College of Education and Communications and professor of Biology, is the principal investigator for the multi-year project, which includes collaboration with 12 area school districts and two community colleges.

The project, IUP Crimson Hawks Advance and Retain Great Educators (IUP-CHARGE), will begin in May and continue through April 2028.

Illinois State Receives $800,000 IBHE Grant to Support Teacher Education

Illinois State University was awarded a grant of more than $800,000 by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) to support the ongoing education of early childhood teachers.  

The funds are part of the $3.37 million awarded in IBHE Early Childhood Faculty Preparation Grants. “The grants will help increase the diversity of faculty in early childhood education in Illinois at a time of great need by expanding the educational pipelines for aspiring early childhood faculty,” said IBHE Executive Director Ginger Ostro, in a news release from the Governor’s Office.

Project Impact Focuses on Increasing the Number of Minority Male Teachers

Students participating in the Project Impact program during an event in May 2022 at the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education.

The goal of California State University, San Bernardino’s Project Impact, a community outreach initiative of the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education, is direct: Help close the academic achievement gaps in the state’s K-12 schools, which will ultimately pay dividends in the classroom and its students through the recruitment, training and deployment of minority male teachers into California’s classrooms.

Project Impact was a vision that Watson College of Education Dean Chinaka DomNwachukwu brought with him when he came to CSUSB. It was born out of his own educational journey as a public school teacher in East Los Angeles in the 1990s. He knew firsthand how it felt to be the only Black male teacher on campus at the K-12 schools where he worked.

How One University Is Creatively Tackling the Rural Teacher Shortage

Rather than add novices, Wyoming works to find new ways to keep experienced teachers on the job.

This story was originally published by The Hechinger Report.

Like many states with a large number of rural schools, Wyoming desperately needs more teachers.

Take the case of the Teton County School District, in Jackson, Wyoming. Located near Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, the area is well known as a vacation spot. Despite the alluring landscape, for full-time residents the extremely high housing costs are daunting.

That makes it difficult to retain staff. The average tenure of a teacher is just four years.

NSU Receives 1.5M Grant to Fund New Teacher Centers and Support Workforce

A federal grant will allow Northeastern State University to increase the number of comprehensively prepared teachers from diverse backgrounds.

NSU was awarded a four-year grant totaling a little more than $1.5 million through the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program. NSU College of Education Dean Vanessa Anton said the funds will be used to create the RiverHawk Center for Teacher Excellence with locations on both the Tahlequah and Broken Arrow campuses.

UW–Madison Receives $5M Gift to Extend Innovative Teacher Pledge Program

This article was originally published by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education.

As the nationwide teacher shortage continues to generate headlines, stress education leaders, and frustrate policymakers in search of answers, the UW–Madison School of Education is announcing the extension of an innovative program aimed at addressing the problem in Wisconsin.

The UW–Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge program first started supporting students in the fall of 2020 and is dedicated to bolstering Wisconsin’s teacher workforce. This donor-funded initiative pays the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees, testing, and licensing costs for students enrolled in one of the School’s teacher preparation programs. In return, graduates “pledge” to teach for three or four years at a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school in Wisconsin.

Renowned Teacher Educators To Discuss ‘Transforming Education’

Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Gloria Ladson-Billings will share their perspectives on navigating K-12 education.

Texas A&M University’s School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) will host a meeting of two renowned and respected minds in teacher education with a combined 90+ years of experience.

Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Gloria Ladson-Billings, both National Academy of Education members, will share their perspectives on navigating K-12 education in a conversation moderated by SEHD professor Cheryl Craig.

Andrews Institute Awarded Cross-Discipline National Science Foundation Grant

A new grant will support TCU’s effort to determine how it has implicitly influenced the inequities found in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) departments. The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant is titled ADVANCE Catalyst: Faculty Resources and Opportunities for Growth in STEM, also known as FROG in STEM. By identifying barriers and bridges for women STEM faculty, this project aims to produce institutional change that will impact not only STEM, but also all women faculty at TCU.  

“Receipt of this award will facilitate our institutional goals to increase the representation and advancement of women among our academic science and engineering faculty and ensure that all our faculty in every discipline are supported and thrive at TCU,” said Floyd Wormley, associate provost for research and dean of graduate studies. “I can think of no better person at TCU than Dr. Weinburgh to lead these efforts, and she has the administration’s full support.”

NMU Collaborative Project Receives NAFSCE Grant

Northern Michigan University education assistant professor Kristen White is among collaborators from 10 partner universities and K12s — including Marquette Area Public Schools — to receive an award from the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) to participate in its Family Engagement Educator Preparation Innovation Project. Only nine collaboratives were selected from a nationwide pool of 76 proposals to receive grants totaling more than $150,000. 

The nine collaboratives will implement select components of the Educator Preparation Framework for Family and Community Partnerships, released by NAFSCE in December 2022, and engage in a learning community through June 2023. The grants will incubate new ideas, uncover how the framework sparks innovation to prepare educators for family and community engagement in diverse communities, and create a platform to share and disseminate ideas and knowledge.

N.C. A&T’s Taliaferro Receives National Award Using Data to Ensure Teacher Readiness

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s Alisa Taliaferro, Ed.D. recently received the prestigious 2022 Ed-Fi Alliance Educator Interoperability Leader of the Year Award. The award is one from seven community award categories including Lifetime Achievement, Partner, Technical Contributor, Ambassador, Solution and Rookie of the Year. 

“The impact of data interoperability is powerful in that it empowers agency among stakeholders such as students, faculty and administrators by providing them with real-time, accurate and actionable information from multiple sources and well-connected data systems,” said Taliaferro, associate dean of Quality Assurance and Graduate Programs in the College of Education.

National Teaching Grant to Boost Diversity

Sam Houston State University was one of 12 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to receive a portion of the U.S. Department of Education’s Augustus F. Hawkins Centers for Excellence Program grants, which aim to increase high-quality teacher preparation programs for teachers of color, strengthen the diversity of the teacher pipeline and address teacher shortages.

The program supports comprehensive, high-quality teacher preparation programs at MSIs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). SHSU is categorized within MSI as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).

U.S. Has a Teacher Shortage. HBCUs are Helping to Change That

This article was originally published by The Associated Press

Surrounded by kindergarteners, Lana Scott held up a card with upper and lower case Ys, dotted with pictures of words that started with that letter: Yo-yo. Yak. Yacht.

“What sound does Y make?” Scott asked a boy. Head down, he mumbled: “Yuh.” Instead of moving on, she gave him a nudge.

“Say it confident, because you know it,” she urged. “Be confident in your answer because you know it.”

He sat up and sounded it out again, louder this time. Scott smiled and turned her attention to the other kids in her group session.

Ball State University to Play Major Role in Apprenticeship Supporting Indiana Educator Pipeline

Ball State University will play a major role in a first-of-its-kind program in the nation centered on special education after the recent federal approval of a state registered apprenticeship supporting the educator pipeline. 

Students participating in the program—which is first launching at Noblesville High School and will be available to scale at other Indiana schools—will allow students to graduate a year early having earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Special Education from the University.

APSU Eriksson College of Education to Host Teacher Shortage Conference

Local teacher Malachi Johnson was one of APSU’s first Grow Your Own graduates

The Austin Peay State University Eriksson College of Education is focused on finding new ways to address the need for licensed teachers in local and regional school districts. The college’s efforts, including the Grow Your Own initiative, garnered attention from White House officials in 2022. Next month, the College of Education will share successes and lessons from the past few years during the inaugural Virtual Conference on Teacher Shortage.

“With many school districts struggling to find qualified teachers, we have found the Grow Your Own model to be a new pipeline,” said Lisa Barron, APSU director of teacher education and partnerships. “Through this conference, we hope to present this model to school districts across the state and show them how they can partner with Austin Peay to train more teachers for their schools.”