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.’
12 Dec2023
By Weade James
At AACTE, we believe in the power of community to transform the future of teacher education. On GivingTuesday, AACTE launched its inaugural end-of year-giving campaign inviting stakeholders to join in advancing the work of and support for teacher education. On behalf of AACTE, thank you to those who participated in the campaign’s kickoff.
As a supporter, you champion the work of an association that remains the leader in advancing a highly qualified and diverse educator workforce to meet the needs of PreK-12 and higher education communities.
With the goal of raising $10,000 before the end of the year, AACTE is still accepting gifts, no matter the size.
Donate today and designate how you want your tax-deductible charitable gift to be used.
11 Dec2023
By North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Digital Teaching and Learning in North Carolina’s public schools will benefit from a new round of competitive grants that were approved on December 7, 2023, by the State Board of Education.
Up to $1.25 million in grants funded by the General Assembly through the state’s Digital Learning Initiative will be available to school districts, charter schools, lab schools, and regional schools during the 2024-2025 school year. Over the past seven years, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s (NCDPI) Digital Teaching and Learning Division has committed more than $10 million in similar grants to help schools and districts develop and strengthen digital-age learning initiatives.
“This agency has had a long history of prioritizing and securing funding for Digital Teaching and Learning grants, and I’m excited to see us continue these efforts today,” State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said. “As our world continues to become more interconnected, technology embedded within North Carolina classrooms will better help our students prepare for the wide range of opportunities upon graduation. I look forward to the creative proposals that will be put forth by schools across the state and seeing how they will enhance teaching and learning for all students.”
11 Dec2023
The Grants Will Support Research and Development at HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs, and Postsecondary Completion for Underserved Students
By U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced today $93 million in grant awards to 20 colleges and universities to support research and development at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and to improve completion rates for underserved students.
The grants are being provided under the Research and Development Infrastructure (RDI) program and the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) program. The RDI program provides funds to HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs to transform their research infrastructure, including strengthening research productivity, faculty expertise, physical infrastructure, and partnerships leading to increases in external funding. The PSSG program 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.
28 Nov2023
By AACTE
AACTE is excited that the launch of its first-ever individual giving program begins today, November 28, with #GivingTuesday — offering you and others an opportunity to have a direct impact on building the next generation of the educator workforce. Members and educator preparation advocates are invited to be a part of this inaugural giving campaign, “The Future of Teacher Education Starts Now.”
Your tax-deductible gift to the campaign will greatly assist AACTE in its work to elevate educator preparation and grow the educator workforce. Become an AACTE champion and directly impact the programs, products, and services that create a more robust, diverse, and high-quality educator workforce.
28 Nov2023
By Tonya Lowentritt
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has awarded a $1.67 million contract to Northshore Regional STEM Center, led by Southeastern Louisiana University in partnership with Northshore Technical Community College and LaSTEM.
Appropriated by the Louisiana State Legislature, the funds will be used to develop and deliver 40 hours of computer science Praxis exam training through multiple cohorts to 1,000 6th-12th grade teachers statewide. The project will be led by the Northshore Regional LaSTEM Center Director Wendy Conarro, Southeastern Interim Computer Science Department Head Bonnie Achee, and Dean of the College of Education Paula Summers Calderon.
As part of the LDOE initiative to “Ignite, Inspire, and Energize” computer science education across Louisiana supporting education and industry, the training will be held virtually in March and April, with a hybrid cohort in June.
28 Nov2023
By Amanda Nelson
(Right) Principal investigator Jonathan Thomas, Ph.D., professor and chair, UK College of Education Department of STEM Education, and co-principal investigator Cindy Jong, Ph.D., professor, UK College of Education Department of STEM Education.
A new University of Kentucky (UK) study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to make mathematics more relatable to all students by focusing on how teachers respond to children’s experiences, knowledge, and mathematical reasoning.
UK College of Education Department of STEM Education faculty are collaborating with faculty at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Georgia State University, and Rowan University on the $1.5 million NSF grant, with $821,000 of the funding coming to UK.
Preparing teachers to create equitable mathematics classrooms is an ongoing challenge for teacher education, said Jonathan Thomas, Ph.D., lead principal investigator of the NSF grant and professor and chair in the UK College of Education Department of STEM Education.
“There are students not being reached, sometimes because the structures we have in place send signals that this thing called ‘math’ really isn’t for you, and we want to push against those narratives. We lose so much talent, brain power and creativity by shutting certain doors,” Thomas said.
13 Nov2023
By Kirstin Werner
The Kern Family Foundation is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity. The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham located in Edgbaston, U.K. delivers a Master of Arts (MA) in Character Education. The MA program is a part-time degree that is taught online over three years giving students the flexibility to complete the program alongside full-time employment. The 2024 cohort begins in September 2024.
The university will offer scholarships covering the full tuition expense for a select number of U.S. citizens, who live and work in the United States. This scholarship is known as the Kern Award. As a valued partner of the foundation, we invite you or one of your esteemed colleagues to apply for the program.
At 11:00 a.m. CST on December 14, 2023, Paul Watts, Ph.D., program lead for the MA in Character Education, will be presenting an information session about the program via Zoom.
23 Oct2023
By Vorhees University
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Voorhees University a $26.7 million grant to serve more than 850 teachers and nearly 11,000 students.
Voorhees’ Center of Excellence for Educator Preparation and Innovation is receiving a new Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program grant to improve student achievement in Fairfield County School District and Georgetown County School District.
The REAP: Rewarding Educator Achievement and Performance grant aims to improve the quality of education, elevate educator effectiveness, raise student achievement, and increase equity in learning.
03 Oct2023
By California Lutheran University
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Cal Lutheran a $1,241,679 grant to support the Graduate School of Education’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Credential Program.
The five-year grant will fund Access Teach: Closing the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Educator Gap, a project to support 60 graduate-level students who will leave the program as credentialed teachers of high-need deaf and hard-of-hearing students in public schools. In addition to tuition, financial aid, textbooks, and instructional materials, the project will provide mentoring and other support to recruit and retain students.
The grant also allows the program to be restructured to a hybrid format by summer 2024. Classes will be synchronous with some in-person classes on Saturdays. This change will enable the university to accommodate the needs of working professionals across Southern California.
18 Jul2023
By AACTE
The “Strengthening Educator Preparation: Addressing Needs and Exploring Innovative Solutions” congressional briefing organized by AACTE, University of Northern Iowa (UNI), and American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), took place today, Tuesday, July 18, on Capitol Hill. The briefing brought together a group of university presidents and deans, all AACTE members, from around the country for a candid conversation on issues impacting educator preparation and innovative solutions.
The issue summary provided to briefing participants stated, “the educational profession is in crisis.” The summary outlined the following four legislative actions necessary to address the crisis:
- Removing financial barriers to entering the education profession
- Updating and expanding the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program
- Reauthorizing the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program
- Increasing Capacity of Educator Preparation Programs
19 Jun2023
By Laura O'Brien
Sen. Tim Kaine took part in a visit in February to the Franklin Military Academy classroom taught by Christal Corey, a graduate of VCU’s RTR teacher residency program and Richmond Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year for 2023. (Photo contributed by Andrew Daire)
This article was originally published by Virginia Commonwealth University News.
The funding will help recruit and support more teacher candidates from diverse backgrounds and provide them with the skills to teach in high-need schools, including those in Richmond Public Schools. The VCU School of Education’s RTR program is an undergraduate and graduate teacher residency program.
16 Jun2023
By Kaitlyn Brennan
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which raises the debt ceiling and limits federal funding for the next two years, Members of Congress, their staff, and education advocates alike have shifted their focus towards an FY 2024 spending bill. House Appropriations Committee chair Kay Granger (R-TX) announced on Monday that the Committee will continue to produce FY 2024 funding bills with new funding capped at the FY 2022 level, which is $119 billion below the FY 2024 discretionary level set in law by the debt limit deal. The level for the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is $60 billion or 29% below its FY 2023 level of $207 billion in discretionary funding. Your voices and advocacy efforts will be critical as we move toward an FY2024 spending bill.
