01 Apr2024
By The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (Washington DC)
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced the expansion of a popular and successful educator coaching program, which will provide free instructional coaching to 75 DC public and public charter teachers who have completed DC Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) programs and have fewer than five years of teaching experience. This work builds on OSSE’s 2023-24 school year school leader coaching, which served nearly 200 school leaders who support over 2,000 DC school-based educators.
“OSSE is proud to provide this coaching opportunity for new teachers who have completed their teacher training right here in the District,” said State Superintendent Christina Grant, Ed.D. “To improve student outcomes, teachers must be well prepared and well supported from the minute they set foot in the classroom, and investing in this one-on-one coaching resource will provide new teachers with the support they need to improve their instructional practice and ultimately make a meaningful impact on the social and academic success of DC students.”
01 Apr2024
By Ryan Clancy
On NC State University’s sixth Day of Giving, March 20, 2024, donors made 992 gifts to the College of Education, the most gifts the college has ever received on the day. Additionally, for the third year in a row, the college won the Faculty and Staff Giving Challenge.
The gifts will go toward benefiting students and ensuring they are prepared to become extraordinary educators by creating and expanding scholarships, funding high-impact student experiences and equity initiatives, and fostering educational innovation.
“Thanks to donor support on Day of Giving, more students will pursue their dream of becoming educators, more students will deepen their education through high-impact experiences and the College of Education will expand its reputation as the college that prepares North Carolina’s best educators,” said Matt Friedrick, the college’s executive director of development.
26 Mar2024
By North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Twenty North Carolina public school units (PSUs) will benefit from nearly $1 million in grants intended to expand and enrich Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. The Increasing Engagement in STEM grants, included in the most recent budget by the General Assembly, provide funds to PSUs to engage grades 6-8 students in experiential STEM education programs.
The grant opportunity generated significant interest across the state, with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) receiving 68 applications — 43 from local education agencies (LEAs), or school districts, and 25 from charter schools.
25 Mar2024
By Nicole Dunn
AACTE is proud to offer financial and professional development support to Holmes scholars enrolled in doctoral studies in early childhood special education to help them take their research and careers to the next level through our partnership program with the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center on Equity (ECIPC-E) at the University of Connecticut. This national initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, aims to enhance outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families by bolstering the pipeline of skilled early childhood leaders and practitioners.
11 Mar2024
By Marc Siegel
Seventy-four Oregon high schools — serving more than 36,000 students — have secured career readiness grants totaling $7.629 million, Oregon Department of Education Director Charlene Williams and Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson announced today.
The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Revitalization Grant funds from the State of Oregon will serve diverse communities around the state, with programs focused on advanced manufacturing, agricultural science, business, computer science, construction, cosmetology, engineering, firefighting, health sciences, hospitality, media, and natural resources.
11 Mar2024
By Hadlee Rinn
A group of teacher educators from the College of Education and Human Services and College of Science and Engineering at Central Michigan University (CMU) received a grant from the National Science Foundation to help college students become familiar with the core teaching practices, which are ideas or actions teachers follow to support learning. Additionally, the core teaching practices are demonstrated to have the greatest impact on student learning and were adopted by the Michigan Department of Education several years ago.
“We chose to focus on [the core practices of] building respectful relationships with students and modeling and explaining content. […] I would argue these are two of the more important teaching practices [because] if you’re going to teach students and have them learn effectively, you need to have a good relationship with them,” Kevin Cunningham, Ph.D, the lead principal investigator on the project said. “The ability to take what is challenging content and make that clear and intelligible to students [is important].”
04 Mar2024
By Virginia Department of Education
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) awarded its second round of Grow Your Own Grants totaling $1.52 million to 24 school divisions to assist in creating registered teacher apprenticeship programs to help recruit and train well-prepared future teachers within their communities. A focused approach to helping school divisions deal with teacher recruitment challenges, Grow Your Own programs help future teachers work towards their bachelor’s degrees and fulfill all licensure requirements so that upon completion of the program participants will be ready to accept a full-time teaching position in their communities.
The VDOE has partnered with the National Center for Grow Your Own to become a national leader in helping develop effective registered apprenticeship programs to assist school divisions in recruiting teacher candidates from their local communities. Under this model, aspiring Virginia teacher candidates can include paraprofessionals and other staff already working in the schools, dual-enrolled graduating high school seniors, or career switchers with an interest in classroom teaching. Twenty-eight Virginia school divisions have launched Grow Your Own registered teacher apprenticeship programs during the 2023-2024 school year.
04 Mar2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) opened applications for the School-Based Mental Health and Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grant competitions to help bolster the pipeline of mental health professionals serving in schools and expand student access to school-based mental health services and supports.
President Biden named tackling the mental health crisis, particularly among youth, a key pillar in his Unity Agenda for the nation. And, in line with the Administration’s goals, these programs play a key role in doubling the supply of qualified mental health professionals in our nation’s schools. These newly opened applications build on the progress made through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to integrate mental health services into our schools as part of the President’s National Mental Health Strategy.
06 Feb2024
By Rhode Island Department of Education
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced the agency received nearly $5 million in school infrastructure grant funding through the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE)’s Supporting America’s School Infrastructure (SASI) program. The federal grants, totaling $47 million across the nation, will strengthen the capacity of RIDE’s ongoing priority of improving school facilities to ensure equitable access to modern learning environments for all students. Rhode Island is only one of seven State Education Agencies (SEAs) that received funding.
“Modern and sustainable school facilities are critical in ensuring our students are able to learn year-round and be present in the classroom,” said Governor McKee. “Over the past few years, we have upgraded several school buildings across the Ocean State to support the best outcomes for students. Thank you to the U.S. Department of Education and the Biden-Harris Administration for offering this important funding to help ongoing school improvements across Rhode Island.”
05 Feb2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The Biden-Harris Administration today is announcing 19 new grant awards totaling $25 million through the first-ever Perkins Innovation and Modernization, Career Connected High Schools (CCHS) grant program.
This investment, issued by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), builds the capacity of education and workforce systems to partner with business and industry, to develop new high-quality career-connected high school programs for more students. Grantees will leverage four evidence-based strategies, or “keys,” to help students in unlocking career success including: providing postsecondary education and career guidance; increasing access to dual or concurrent enrollment programs; increasing work-based learning opportunities; and providing industry-recognized credentials.
22 Jan2024
By Iowa Department of Education
The Iowa Department of Education today announced that $1.7 million in competitive grants are available to Iowa school districts to align secondary career and technical education programs with industry-recognized credentials. The new Credentials to Careers grant will support high schoolers earning credentials with labor market value.
“By expanding opportunities to attain an industry-recognized credential in high school, the Credentials to Careers grant helps connect the classroom to the workforce,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “Students earning portable, stackable credentials will be ready to succeed in high-wage and public-good careers, changing lives and strengthening communities.”
Industry-recognized credentials are certifications, credentials, or licenses that are vetted by employers and endorsed by a nationally recognized trade association or organization in a particular industry. Credentials are available across many career pathways, including those in health sciences, information technology, construction, manufacturing, child development, culinary, and business.
03 Jan2024
NM Residencies Program Provides Aspiring Teachers with Classroom Experience
By Nate Williams
The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) has been awarded a five-year, $8 million federal grant for NM Residencies, a statewide initiative to provide aspiring teachers with a year of co-teaching alongside an accomplished mentor teacher as part of their pre-service preparation program.
The grant, part of the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Education Innovation and Research Program, will provide much-needed research, infrastructure, and implementation support for NM Residencies.
03 Jan2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The Biden-Harris Administration announced $44.5 million in grants to 22 institutions of higher education to improve rates of postsecondary education enrollment, persistence, and completion among students in rural communities. The Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) grant program promotes the development of high-quality career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the region.
In America’s rural communities, only 29% of individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 are enrolled in higher education, compared to almost 48% of their counterparts in urban areas and 42% in suburban areas. In addition to navigating how to pay for college and the application process, students in rural areas face other barriers to accessing and completing college, including reliable transportation, food and housing insecurity, and access to health care and high-speed internet.
“The grants announced today by the Biden-Harris Administration reflect our commitment to empowering rural communities to build on their strengths, attract new investments, and prepare students for the high-skill, high-wage jobs of tomorrow,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “When we invest in postsecondary attainment in rural communities, we create pathways for students to find rewarding careers that do not require them to leave their hometowns for economic opportunity. These grant awards will help rural institutions Raise the Bar for student success and the attainment of valuable degrees and credentials that lead to brighter futures and greater prosperity.”
A full version of the press release is available on the U.S. Department of Education’s website.
03 Jan2024
By Michael Slaton
The Clemson University College of Education is dedicated to improving teacher preparation and student outcomes in every classroom, focusing on underserved schools and communities. With this in mind, researchers in the college are interested in classroom practices and the effects of education policies on schools, districts, and entire regions.
Two recent grants awarded to college faculty showcase both ends of this spectrum.
Faiza Jamil, associate professor in the college, uses data from multiple sources to examine the effectiveness of district policies designed to increase the number of teachers from diverse backgrounds. Meanwhile, Kristen Duncan, an assistant professor in the college, uses more qualitative research to examine how Black educators tackle challenging discipline-specific content with students.
18 Dec2023
By Judith Cebula
Lilly Endowment Inc. has approved more than $21.5 million in implementation grants to help 28 colleges and universities in Indiana prepare the next generation of teachers in methods aligned with the Science of Reading.
The Endowment made the grants through its initiative, Advancing the Science of Reading in Indiana (ASRI). The initiative aims to improve significantly the reading abilities of Indiana K-12 students by helping teachers strengthen their use of methods aligned with the Science of Reading, a vast body of research related to how children learn to read. Methods aligned with the research include explicit, systematic, and cumulative instruction focused on phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
The Endowment, which has long supported efforts to improve educational outcomes for students in Indiana’s K-12 schools, launched ASRI in 2022 to help address low reading achievement among Indiana students. Only 33% of Indiana fourth-graders scored proficient in reading comprehension in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called ‘The Nation’s Report Card.’
