Education Secretary Duncan Announces $43 Million in Grants to Improve Teaching in High-Need Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of $43 million for 28 new five-year Teacher Quality Partnership grants to improve instruction in struggling schools. These grants will be used to reform traditional university teacher preparation and teacher residency programs.

“The Obama Administration is committed to giving teachers the support they need to succeed in the classroom,” Secretary Duncan said. “The Teacher Quality Partnership grants will improve student academic achievement by strengthening teacher preparation, training and effectiveness and help school districts attract potential educators from a wide-range of professional backgrounds into the teaching profession.”

The partnerships include high-need school districts, their high-need schools, institutions of higher education and their colleges or departments of education, arts and sciences. It is a unique collaboration of the key stakeholders to improve the quality of teaching in public elementary and secondary schools where children are in greatest need of support to accelerate their learning.

Research shows that teacher quality is the most important factor in improving student achievement. As part of the Administration's efforts to engage, support, and grow the pool of talented teachers, Secretary Duncan will participate in three teacher education events planned for the month of October:

• On October 9, he will speak to students studying to be teachers at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education in Charlottesville, Va.;
• On October 20, he will host a virtual town hall meeting with teachers from throughout the nation on the Department's monthly television program “Education News You Can Use”; and
• On October 22, he will deliver a major address on teacher preparation at the Columbia University Teachers College in New York.

Through an additional $100 million provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a second slate of Teacher Quality Partnership grants will be announced early in 2010.

Of the grants announced today, nine will focus on reforming traditional university teacher preparation programs, 12 will focus on creating teaching residency programs, and seven will focus on both. The teaching residency programs follow a medical model in which residents are placed in schools with extensive induction and support. All programs include rigorous candidate selection criteria, a commitment to recruiting candidates from diverse populations, and extensive and ongoing support for teacher candidates. Teaching residents are paid a living wage and expected to teach for three years in the partnering high-need schools.

The Improving Teacher Quality State Grants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act offer some $2.9 billion in formula grants to states as a major source of flexible funds to help states and school districts strengthen the skills of the teaching force, meet the highly qualified teacher requirements, and ensure qualified teachers are placed in high-need, underserved classrooms.

“Highly effective teaching is crucial to student success,” Secretary Duncan said. “These grants offer an opportunity to develop new models for how teachers are prepared and supported. They will create and implement a variety of pathways, including the teaching residency model, to bring talented individuals in to the classroom. This investment will reap long-term benefits for schools and children.”

A list of grantees follows, alphabetical by state, and includes program name, director, and first-year funding amount.

• Arizona State University—Tempe, Arizona; $6,724,699.64
  Project Name: Teacher Advancement Program
  Project Director: Scott Ridley

• California State University—Bakersfield; $2,472,170.64
  Project Name: CA Partnership for Teacher Quality Programs
  Project Director: Curtis Guaglianone

• California State University—Chico; $1,141,959.64
  Project Name: Collaboration for Student Achievement in Rural Schools
  Project Director: Phyllis Fernlund

• California State University—Dominquez Hills; $748,991.64
  Project Name: Urban Teacher Residency Program
  Project Director: Sharon Russell

• California State University—Los Angeles; $1,725,796.64
  Project Name: Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency Program
  Project Director: Diane Haagar

• Regents of the University of CA—Los Angeles; $1,874,789.64
  Project Name: Urban Teacher Residency Program
  Project Director: Karen Hunter-Quartz

• Georgia State University—Atlanta; $2,073,381.64
  Project Name: Network for Enhancing Teaching Quality
  Project Director: Gwen Benson

• Kennesaw State University—Marietta, Georgia; $1,178,382.64
  Project Name: Pre-Baccalaureate Program Reform
  Project Director: Steve Constantino

• Board of Trustee of the University of Illinois—Chicago; $2,968,478.64
  Project Name: Chicago Teacher Pipeline Partnership
  Project Director: Ginger Reynolds

• Illinois State University—Normal; $1,781,907.64
  Project Name: TEACHER+PLUS Project
  Project Director: Robert Lee

• National Louis University—Chicago, Illinois; $2,954,312.64
  Project Name: Teaching Residency Program
  Project Director: Michael Whitmore

• Trustees of Indiana University—Bloomington, Indiana; $539,349.64
  Project Name: Urban Education Excellence: STEM Teaching Residency with Dual Licensure in Special Education
  Project Director: Jean Mercer

• MidAmerica Nazarene University—Olathe, Kansas; $1,830,803.64
  Project Name: Preparing Educators for Rural Kansas
  Project Director: Linda Alexander

• Wichita State University—Kansas; $1,087,845.64
  Project Name: Urban Teacher Preparation Program
  Project Director: Sharon Hartin Iorio

• Western Kentucky University—Bowling Green, Kentucky; $821,643.64
  Project Name: GSKyTeach
  Project Director: Roger Pankratz

• Louisiana State University & A&M College—Baton Rouge; $1,054,388.14
  Project Name: Central Louisiana Academic Residency For Teachers
  Project Director: Gary Byerly

• University of Missouri—Kansas City; $668,870.64
  Project Name: Project CAUSE
  Project Director: Jennifer Waddell

• Montclair State University—New Jersey; $674,473.64
  Project Name: Teaching Residency Program
  Project Director: Rosemary Steinbaum

• William Patterson University—Wayne, New Jersey; $1,733,003.64
  Project Name: The Garden State Partnership For Teacher Quality
  Project Director: AnaMaria Schuhmann

• Bard College—Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; $710,320.64
  Project Name: Transforming Teaching and Learning In High-Need Rural Schools
  Project Director: Ric Campbell

• Hunter College—New York; $307,701.64
  Project Name: New Visions for Public Schools: Hunter College Urban Teacher Residency Program
  Project Director: Robert Buckley

• Teachers College—Columbia University-New York; $507,721.64
  Project Name: Teacher Residency Program
  Project Director: A. Lin Goodwin

• East Carolina University—Greenville, North Carolina; $1,063,854.64
  Project Name: Teacher Quality and Student Achievement
  Project Director: Shirley Carraway

• The Ohio State University—Columbus; $1,957,506.64
  Project Name: Apprenticeships Supported by Partnerships for Innovation and Reform in Education
  Project Director: Sandra Stroot

• Winthrop University—Rock Hill, South Carolina; $1,429,291.64
  Project Name: NetSCOPE
  Project Director: Jeannie Rakestraw

• Mid-Central Education Cooperative—Platte, South Dakota; $1,190,208.64
  Project Name: South Dakota Partnership for Teacher Quality
  Project Director: Dan Guericke

• Texas State University—San Marcos; $611,183.64
  Project Name: The Teaching Residency Program for Shortage Areas
  Project Director: Scott W. Erwin

• Old Dominion University—Norfolk, Virginia; $719,465.64
  Project Name: Teacher Immersion Residency
  Project Director: Sharon Judge