In Tennessee: DOE Announces 2024-25 Perkins Reserve Grant Awards Totaling $2.6M

By Tennessee Department of Education

The Tennessee Department of Education announced over $2.6 million in Perkins Reserve Grant (PRG) grant funds have been awarded to 55 school districts for the 2024-25 school year to support Career and Technical Education (CTE) across the state.

The PRG grant awards support the implementation of programs of study aligned with emerging technology in regionally identified high-skill, high-wage, and/or in-demand occupations or industries, implement STEM in all CTE classrooms, and increase support for special education students. Additionally, the PRG grant opportunity is designed to support districts in rural areas and maintain high CTE student participation rates.

In Arizona: Effort to Reduce Red Tape for Teachers Succeeds with Lawmakers 

By Arizona Department of Education

State schools chief Tom Horne says the newly passed state budget includes a change that he has long sought: the elimination of the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) program, which many educators consider an unnecessary bureaucratic requirement and a waste of classroom time. 

“Over time, the KEA had ballooned into an endless morass of paperwork that meant teachers had to spend too much time on bureaucratic requirements versus time with students,” Horne said. “Now the legislature has taken the welcome step of entirely removing the legal requirement for the KEA, which frees up more time for teachers to spend on classroom instruction.” 

New York Launches Statewide Teacher Recruitment Platform

By New York State Education Department

The New York State Education Department and TEACH are partnering to launch TeachNY.org, a new digitally powered recruitment platform developed in collaboration with a wide coalition of New York schools, districts, institutions of higher education, and education organizations, Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced. The mission of TEACH New York (TeachNY) is to identify and cultivate the next generation of teachers throughout the state. 

“We must continually design, develop, and implement innovative approaches that nurture a highly skilled, diverse teaching workforce,” Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said. “TeachNY is precisely the kind of initiative that will inspire and ignite the future generation of New York State teachers.” 

In Colorado: CDE Awards $3 Million in Grant Funding to Support Out-Of-School-Time Learning  

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: 

Educators Discuss Strategies to Help Students Succeed During 2024 Persistence To Graduation Summit 

By Jennifer Ginn 

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) hosted the 2024 Persistence to Graduation Summit in Lexington, KY, on June 11-12. 

Educators, superintendents, administrators, counselors, and other community leaders focused on ways to help students at all levels reach graduation, despite any challenges they face along the way. 

“There’s a lot of different kinds of barriers,” said KDE Division of Student Success Director Christina Weeter. “And they don’t just start in high school. They start in earlier years as well, and they can be cumulative.” 

University of Louisville College of Education & Human Development to Create State Reading Research Center 

By Jennifer Recktenwald and Chris Wooton

This article was originally published on the University of Louisville’s news website. 

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has tapped the University of Louisville’s (UofL) College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) to create the Kentucky Reading Research Center, a new entity that will support educators in implementing reliable, replicable reading programs and promote literacy development.  

The project includes a two-year, $6 million contract — one of the largest competitive grant awards in the CEHD’s history — and is renewable for up to five years. 

Executive Vice President and University Provost Gerry Bradley and CEHD Interim Dean Amy Lingo, who will serve as executive director of the Kentucky Reading Research Center when it launches July 1, joined state officials and legislators at Bourbon Central Elementary School in Paris, KY, to announce the project on June 3. 

New Jersey Department of Ed. Awards Grants to Help Schools Improve Climate Change Instruction

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.

In New York: State Education Department Awards $34M in Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Grants 

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.” 

Iowa Department of Education Awards Nearly $6 Million in Learning Beyond the Bell Grants To 67 Schools

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.”

In New Hampshire: Discovery Education to Produce New Civics Curriculum for Schools 

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. 

In Michigan: Teachers Earn $700,000 in Grants for Achieving National Board Certification

By Michigan Department of Education

More than 100 teachers in 53 school districts are receiving $732,000 in grants from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) for earning National Board Certification. 

“Michigan children are the biggest winners when our schools have highly accomplished teachers who have met rigorous standards to receive National Board Certification,” said State Superintendent Michael F. Rice, Ph.D. “That’s why MDE is awarding grants to these 126 outstanding teachers who have earned this certification. We applaud these teachers’ dedication to professional development and their students.” 

In Pennsylvania: $1.5 Million In Grants To Grow Special Education Teacher Workforce 

By Taj Magruder

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today announced that $1.5 million in grant funding is available to help schools create learning opportunities that will bolster the Commonwealth’s next generation of special educators. 

“The Shapiro Administration is laser-focused on growing and expanding the Commonwealth’s educator workforce, and we know that one of the areas of greatest need is in the field of special education,” said Secretary of Education Khalid N. Mumin, Ed.D. “This grant funding will complement the efforts we have already undertaken to create a pipeline of high-quality educators who can serve students from all walks of life and those with disabilities or different needs.”

Teacher Stories: NJACTE Welcomes Teacher of the Year, Joe Nappi

By Amy Kline

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) strives to recognize educators who have gone above and beyond in their service to New Jersey’s students. All local educational agencies (LEAs) are encouraged to participate in its Governor’s Educator of the Year program to honor the hardworking teachers and educational services professionals for their dedication to students, and to the profession. 

As part of this distinguished state program, the New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NJACTE) welcomes the teachers chosen to speak at a monthly membership meeting and invites them to share their thoughts about education. What follows is a post authored by 2024 NJ Teacher of the Year, Joe Nappi on the topic of difficult conversations.

In North Carolina: 20 Public School Units to Receive Nearly $1 Million in STEM Grants

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. 

Virginia Department of Education Announces $1.52 Million in Grow Your Own Grants

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.