Georgia State University Awarded State Department of Education Funding to Support Dyslexia Endorsement Programs

Georgia State University’s College of Education & Human Development received a $106,928 grant from the Georgia Department of Education to help teachers earn their dyslexia endorsement.

Georgia State is one of 14 universities and regional education service agencies to receive state funding, which can be used to cover tuition, fees and exam costs for teachers in dyslexia endorsement programs or to improve and expand those programs, according to the Department of Education’s website.

UMaine Supports Teachers with First Summer Educators Institute

Schools across the state held their last classes of the 2021–22 school year , marking the official start of summer for Maine students, parents and teachers. However, about 125 educators didn’t the classroom , as they took part in the first annual University of Maine Educators Institute being held virtually June 22–23.

The theme of this new UMaine Summer University program, developed in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education, is “Supporting Emotional and Behavioral Well-Being in School Communities: From Surviving to Thriving.”

New UH Program Transforms STEM Pros into STEM Teachers

$1.2 Million Grant from National Science Foundation Funds Alternative Certification Program

Photo credit: Getty

Some people are born to be teachers, even if early career choices lead them down other paths first. For professionals working in STEM fields, a new University of Houston program offers a fast track to earn a place at the head of a secondary school STEM classroom – and change their own lives in the process.

Applications are currently being accepted for the first cohort of STEMPro, an intensive nine-month alternative teaching certification program and a collaboration between UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and College of Education. The addition of this post-baccalaureate outreach, which focuses on already established professionals, expands the existing teachHOUSTON program, which serves undergraduates seeking teaching certificates. It also supports the UH focus on training quality teachers ready to serve in communities where they are needed most.

K-State Rural Education Center partners with Rural Schools Collaborative to boost rural education in Kansas

The Rural Education Center in the Kansas State University College of Education has entered a strategic partnership with the Rural Schools Collaborative to strengthen and advance every aspect of rural education in Kansas. The Rural Schools Collaborative, housed at Monmouth College, is a national grassroots network of rural schools, higher-education institutions and organizations focused on rural teachers and rural education.

FAU Receives $1 Million Grant for Equity in Instructional Performance

Florida Atlantic University’s College of Education School Leaders Program has been awarded a three-year, $1,039,041 grant from Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) to support two graduate degree programs as part of the Teacher School Leader Equity for Instructional Performance (EQUIP) grant project initiative. BCPS is the sixth largest public school system in the United States and the second largest in Florida.

SFA Partners with Galena Park Independent School District for Paid Internships

Stephen F. Austin State University’s James I. Perkins College of Education has partnered with the Galena Park Independent School District to staff up to five paid internships during the 2022-23 academic year.

The program, which launches this fall, will let students use clinical teaching assignments to gain valuable classroom experience before entering the education workforce. While all teaching areas are available, GPISD particularly needs interns in early childhood through sixth grade, special education, bilingual education, math and English language arts.

$1.4M Grant for New JMU Upward Bound Program Aims to Help Underrepresented Students Prepare for College

JMU College of Education program will empower first-generation college and at-risk local students to unlock potential

James Madison University’s College of Education will receive $1.4 million over the next five years to help eligible high school students in the Shenandoah Valley overcome social, emotional, and academic barriers to achieve success in education beyond high school.

JMU will receive a total of $1,437,685 to create a JMU Upward Bound Program. The funds will support two programs, one at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg City Public Schools and one at Spotswood High School in Rockingham County Public Schools, supporting a total of approximately 30-35 high school students at each school. 

Future Teachers Begin New Arizona Teach Residency

The Arizona Teacher Residency has accepted its first cohort of 30 future teachers, as well as the 30 supervising teachers who will be working with those teacher residents this next school year.

The Arizona Teacher Residency is a first-of-its-kind graduate program in Arizona modeled after medical residencies to help recruit, prepare, support and retain K-12 teachers, especially those with identities that have been underrepresented in the teaching population. The two-year program provides aspiring teachers with in-classroom experience, a living stipend, a master’s degree and a job at a partnering school district. Residents will receive mentoring and induction from a trained instructional mentor through the Arizona K12 Center in their second year with the support continuing into the third year.

Interactive STEM Camp at MSU offers Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Chance to Learn Physics, Consider College Options

(Photo by Grace Cockrell)

A group of young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder who are interested in science, technology and related fields are getting a new chance to learn about physics and other topics as part of an innovative camp at Mississippi State, which may be the country’s first of its kind.

MSU Assistant Professor of Physics Ben Crider is using a prestigious $600,000 National Science Foundation 2019 Career Grant to advance his nuclear physics research, which includes a highly interactive summer experience for students with autism that was delayed due to COVID-19.

College of Education Program Serving Arizona’s Native American Communities Gets $1.2M Boost

Chris Richards/University of Arizona

A University of Arizona College of Education program that provides mentorship and educational resources to Arizona’s Indigenous communities will extend its reach thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the Arizona Department of Education.

The Native Student Outreach, Access and Resiliency program, better known as Native SOAR, emphasizes Indigenous teaching and knowledge. Over the course of 10 weeks, the program allows UArizona students from any major to spend about three to four hours a week mentoring middle and high students across Arizona and teaching them about attending college, cultural resiliency, leadership skills and identity exploration.

New UM Scholarship Seeks to Improve Teacher Shortage in Rural Alabama Schools

Throughout Alabama, rural school systems are experiencing teacher shortages that the University of Montevallo is stepping up to try and fill.

UM’s College of Education and Human Development has committed to increasing the number of highly qualified teachers to serve in targeted rural public schools by offering the new Rural Recruitment Scholarship to support and prepare students to teach in rural schools.

“Although Alabama is experiencing a statewide teacher shortage, vacancies disproportionately impact rural schools,” said Dr. Courtney C. Bentley, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The College of Education and Human Development is extremely grateful for these generous funds that will help us prepare highly qualified teachers to serve students in these rural communities.”

Belmont University Announces New Partnership to Recruit and Train Math Teacher

Belmont University logoIn partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education and local public school districts, Belmont University announced a new initiative to recruit, train and support the next generation of mathematics teachers in the Midstate region.

The newly established Belmont University Math Teacher Residency will leverage partnerships with area school systems — including in several rural communities — to enable high-quality potential candidates to become mathematics teachers in secondary schools across Middle Tennessee. 

With $2 million in grant funding awarded to Belmont University through a competitive state grant process, the program will place each teacher candidate in an in-school “residency” — a paid educational position in a classroom where they will learn from and receive support from an experienced mentor teacher. Concurrently, candidates will enroll in high-quality, intensive online coursework at Belmont, deepening their content knowledge and learning effective pedagogical strategies. Belmont professors will work alongside candidates’ mentor teachers to ensure that instruction has immediate and meaningful classroom application.

Illinois State University Coordinates State Tutoring Initiative

This article originally appeared on Illinois State University website and is reprinted with permission.

Teacher working in the classroom with young students

Illinois State University (ISU) is coordinating the Illinois Tutoring Initiative in partnership with the Governor’s Office, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), and the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The program will provide tutoring for approximately 8,500 Illinois students during the two-year period. This is one of four state initiatives aimed at learning renewal following COVID disruptions in schooling.

Six institutional partners across the state including ISU, Governor’s State University, Illinois Central College, Northern Illinois University, Southeastern Illinois Community College, and Southern Illinois University, manage tutoring in their area of the state.

Grant Benefits UTEP’s Teacher Preparation Candidates

This article originally appeared on the UTEP website.

Photo: Laura Trejo / UTEP Marketing and Communications

Ten graduate students in The University of Texas at El Paso’s teacher preparation program earned $10,000 scholarships to help finance their education and teacher certification, thanks to a $108,000 grant from the Charles Butt Foundation.

UTEP nominated students for the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers who were accepted into the accelerated M.A. in Education with teacher certification program, which includes a year-long residency in partnership with El Paso County school districts. Those nominees went through two rigorous application processes — one at UTEP and the other through the Charles Butt Foundation (CBF), formerly the Raise Your Hand Texas Education Foundation.

Erika Mein, Ph.D., associate dean for undergraduate studies and educator preparation in the College of Education, is a principal investigator of CBF’s Raising Texas Teachers partner program at UTEP. She said she was elated that the CBF selected 10 UTEP students to be part of the program’s initial cohort. She described the students as committed, professional and enthusiastic.

UNG College of Education Launches Residency

This article originally appeared on ung.edu and is reprinted with permission.

Teacher working with students in the clasroom

The University of North Georgia’s (UNG) College of Education is launching its teacher candidate residency program in fall 2022, in partnership with the Gainesville City and Hall County school districts.

The program allows preservice teachers enrolled in a UNG teacher preparation program to be hired by school districts to be full-time teachers during their senior year.

The program is meant to replace traditional student teaching, and these students are paid half the standard teaching salary, which amounts to about $23,000 annually.