Research demonstrates that teacher quality is correlated with student academic achievement. The following are excerpts from a WEEK-TV (IL) story highlighting how Illinois State University is using funds provided through No Child Left Behind to strengthen the quality of teachers' math and science instruction:
"The State's largest teacher training university received about three-quarters of a million dollars through the No Child Left Behind program. Illinois State University will use the grant money for three programs designed to help school districts throughout the state improve test scores, teaching methods and quality of teachers.
"Dr. William Hunter, a chemistry professor at Illinois State University, is heading the Science Teaching Excellence Partnership, or STEP, project. STEP is working with 100 math and science teachers in southern Illinois to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their curriculum. Hunter says the project will work with teachers to design specific programs to meet their needs in areas where their students are not quite meeting state standards. ... The STEP program is getting $270,000 of the grant money. ... Hunter says ultimately he hopes the project helps raise students' I-SAT scores and Prairie State scores."
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