09 Sep2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced more than $28 million in new awards in the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) program to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain a strong, effective, and diverse educator workforce for classrooms across the country.
The Department also released new data showing the breakdown of borrowers approved for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) in every state. The data showcase how every state has borrowers, including educators, that are part of the $69.2 billion for nearly 947,000 borrowers that have seen relief through this program. By contrast, at the start of this Administration, only 7,000 had been approved for PSLF.
09 Sep2024
By Elyssee Gibson
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a seven-year, $35 million GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) grant to Appalachian State University’s College Access Partnerships in the Reich College of Education. The award represents the largest single grant ever awarded to the university.
GEAR UP is a federally funded college access program designed to increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education immediately after high school. Through a wide range of research-based services to students, families, and teachers, the GEAR UP NC Appalachian Partnership aims to improve college-going mindsets, high school graduation rates, and postsecondary enrollment rates.
03 Sep2024
By Lenoir-Rhyne University
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Lenoir-Rhyne University a grant through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The award, totaling $1.2 million, will fund eight scholarships each year over the next five years for Master of Arts in teaching students pursuing careers teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at the secondary level.
“We designed this grant to tackle the dual challenge of addressing STEM teacher shortages – particularly in high-need schools – and creating pathways for underrepresented students to become STEM educators,” shared Hank Weddington, Ed.D., dean of the College of Education and Human Services.
General teacher shortages have made news nationwide in recent years, and those shortages are even more pronounced in the STEM subject areas. By 2028, North Carolina is projected to require more than 300,000 workers to fill critical roles in STEM professions. Sustained economic growth is dependent on the educators who prepare their students to enter those professions.
03 Sep2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced today more than $80 million in grant awards to 26 grantees to improve access to postsecondary education for students from low-income backgrounds. The grants are being provided under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) program, which aims to significantly increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who are prepared to attend and succeed in postsecondary education.
19 Aug2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced more than $40 million in grant awards to seven grantees to improve completion rates for underserved students. The grants are being provided under the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) program, which aims to equitably improve postsecondary student outcomes, including retention, transfer, credit accumulation, and completion, by leveraging data and implementing, scaling, and rigorously evaluating evidence-based approaches.
“Across the country, colleges and universities are rejecting the old idea that weeding out students was a sign of quality, and instead they are taking responsibility for all of their students’ success,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “These awards will not only help find new ways to help students graduate; they will help change expectations.”
30 Jul2024
By Hawai'i State Department of Education
Forty-four free, public preschool classrooms are slated to open across the state, with at least one classroom on each island. This marks a historic number of new public pre-K classrooms opening in a single year. The announcement was made Friday at Kūhiō Elementary School by Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who is leading the state’s Ready Keiki initiative, along with the Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL) and Ready Keiki partners.
This tranche of openings follows 11 classrooms that opened last year, all of which were completed under budget and ahead of schedule. The 44 new classrooms will add 820 seats to the inventory of public pre-K seats across the state, bringing the total to 1,767.
22 Jul2024
By Casey Kelly
This article was originally published on the University of Maine’s website and is reprinted with permission.
The University of Maine College of Education and Human Development and the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) have agreed to extend their partnership focused on advancing the preparation and professional development of high-quality rural teachers and school leaders throughout New England.
The parties recently signed a new memorandum of understanding to continue the collaboration through fiscal year 2027, allowing UMaine to remain the home of the RSC’s New England Rural Education Hub.
08 Jul2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced more than $44.5 million for 22 grants under the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) program to improve rates of postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion among rural students through the development of high-quality career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the region.
“Rural communities face unique challenges in educating, training, and developing high-skill workers—yet they are also home to students with unique skills and potential,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “These dedicated funds will ensure that students in rural areas have access to postsecondary credentials and other resources that lead to high-quality career pathways and economic success.”
24 Jun2024
By Colorado Department of Education
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is supporting school districts and community organizations to expand out-of-school-time learning opportunities for students at 24 sites across the state. The department awarded $3 million in grant funding from the federal Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant to support academic enrichment opportunities with a focus on serving economically disadvantaged students.
This year’s grant recipients are the CDE’s eleventh cohort of 21st Century Community Learning sites. Some examples of what the funds will support include the following:
18 Jun2024
By Martin Walls
This article was originally published on Syracuse University’s website.
An anonymous benefactor has given $150,000 to the Syracuse University School of Education to provide scholarships for Native American students preparing to become inclusive education teachers. The School of Education Indigenous Teacher Preparation Fund will provide scholarships to at least seven undergraduate students in its first cohort, which will matriculate by the 2026-2027 academic year.
The scholarship will pay for a maximum of 30% of an individual student’s tuition. A portion of the fund will provide support for special programming and academic opportunities for Native American teacher preparation students, such as undergraduate research, conference attendance, or study away opportunities within the US.
03 Jun2024
By Michael Yaple
The New Jersey Department of Education today announced awards for two grant opportunities to help schools implement, improve, and expand climate-change instruction in the classroom.
The grants will approach climate-change instruction through two avenues:
- An interdisciplinary learning and community projects grant will provide funds directly to school districts to help them partner with local organizations or their municipality to establish Interdisciplinary Learning Units and Community Resilience Projects. These projects will help schools impact their community through projects such as planting rain gardens with plants that will ease flooding; growing food using aquaponics to combat food insecurity; restoring native plant species; and planting dune grass to restore and protect native habitats.
- The Climate Change Learning Collaboratives grant will fund programs in which colleges and universities will create Climate Change Learning Collaboratives to provide training to teachers on how to infuse climate change into the curriculum.
20 May2024
By JP O'Hare
The New York State Education Department awarded $34 million in Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) Expansion Grants to 64 school districts across the state. The grants will enable districts to establish new full-day prekindergarten placements or to convert existing placements from half- to full-day.
Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said, “When children enroll in high-quality and effective PreK programs, they gain a significant advantage in early skills that prepare them for success in elementary school. Expanding access to full-day PreK programs through these grants will help more of New York’s children succeed.”
20 May2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The Biden-Harris Administration announced a new record in federal funding and investments in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) totaling more than $16 billion from fiscal years (FY) 2021 through current available data for FY 2024. This new reported total is up from the previously announced over $7 billion, and captures significant additional actions already undertaken. The total of more than $16 billion includes over $11.4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 through federal grants, contracting awards, and debt relief for HBCUs; over $4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 for HBCU-enrolled students through federal financial aid and educational benefits for veterans; and, so far in FY 2024, over $900 million has been secured for Department of Education (Department) programs strengthening HBCUs as institutions.
14 May2024
By Iowa Department of Education
The Iowa Department of Education today awarded nearly $6 million in competitive grants to 67 Iowa schools to create, expand, and sustain high-quality before-and-after school programs that support families and advance student achievement in partnership with community organizations.
“By expanding access to before- and after-school programs grounded in evidence-based best practices, Learning Beyond the Bell grants will support improved student achievement, strong attendance, and positive behaviors,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “The Department is leveraging additional federal funds to increase support for Learning Beyond the Bell grants from $3.5 million to nearly $6 million, encouraged by the tremendous response of schools and community organizations to this opportunity. We commend all of the awardees for their leadership in realizing our shared vision to bridge and close learning gaps through engaging students in dynamic learning and supporting working families beyond the school day.”
06 May2024
By Kim Houghton
In an effort to bolster civics education throughout the Granite State, the New Hampshire Department of Education (NHED) is partnering with Discovery Education to support the development of informed students who are eager and ready to participate in democracy.
In March, the governor and executive council approved a $1 million contract between NHED and Discovery Education to provide high-quality curriculum and instructional materials for New Hampshire students and teachers to help them explore the history, heritage, and principles of the New Hampshire Constitution and government it established.
In 2021, the New Hampshire Department of Education made Discovery Education content available, at no cost, to all New Hampshire educators when it selected the Discovery Education Experience learning platform to support local learning environments with high-quality instructional material. Through this initial partnership, 100% of New Hampshire schools can use the Discovery platform and have engaged more than 1.4 million learning experiences. Expanding on that partnership, the new civics curriculum will be organized within a custom New Hampshire Civics Channel on the Discovery Education platform that will roll out to educators this fall. To support the implementation of this resource and to help drive the return on the State’s edtech investment, this new phase of the partnership will also include comprehensive teacher training for the effective use of the resources.
