Newswise — The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Georgia State University College of Education $7.5 million for its Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education (CREST-Ed) program, which is designed to increase the number of teachers committed to high-need schools in urban and rural settings.
The College of Education will partner with Albany State University, Columbus State University, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future and nine county school systems to recruit, train and support 250-300 students who want to teach in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
These future teachers will have access to the same types of extended field experiences the College of Education established as part of its Network for Enhancing Teacher Quality (NET-Q) project, another federally funded research project focused on preparing teachers for high-need schools.
Gwen Benson, principal investigator for NET-Q and CREST-Ed, said the teacher residencies that place students in classrooms for the entire academic year are a key component of preparing teachers for the demands they’ll face when they’ve graduated and found jobs at high-need schools.
“The teacher residency model contributes a great deal to the development of highly effective teachers,” Benson said.
The College of Education and its partners will also help CREST-Ed graduates develop relationships with mentor teachers, offer professional development sessions and provide support as they find their bearings in the classroom.
“We want to stay connected with them and keep them excited about teaching,” Benson said. “If they have strong support, they’re more likely to enjoy what they do and continue teaching.”
In addition, the CREST-Ed funding will allow the College of Education to expand its Academy for Future Teachers to its partner universities. The Academy for Future Teachers, a three-week summer program that invites high school students interested in teaching math and science to Georgia State’s campus for hands-on teaching and learning experiences, dovetails with CREST-Ed’s emphasis on STEM education and expands its scope to high school students considering careers in teaching.
Georgia State was one of 24 institutions nationwide to receive funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership grant competition, which focused this year on supporting projects that prepare STEM teachers.
For more information about the grant, visit http://www2.ed.gov/programs/tqpartnership/index.html.
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