KSU awarded $8.9 million grant from U.S. Department of Education
Bagwell College, Cobb County Schools partner to enhance K-12 teacher quality
KENNESAW…
Georgia
(Oct 8, 2009) —
Bagwell College, Cobb County Schools partner to enhance K-12 teacher quality
KENNESAW, Ga. (October 6, 2009) — Kennesaw State University was awarded an $8.9 million grant from the U.S. Department
of Education to establish an innovative K-12 teacher preparation program in high-need,
urban schools in Cobb County.
“This grant is a significant achievement for Kennesaw State as we continue on the
path towards becoming a research intensive university,” said KSU Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs Lendley C. Black. “Going forward, we expect to continue
tapping into various sources of external funding and attracting grant monies that
fund valuable research and initiatives such as this.”
The five-year grant, the largest ever awarded to Kennesaw State, will support the
Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP), an initiative of the university’s Bagwell College
and seven schools in the Cobb County School District, one of the largest school districts
in the state.
“The goal is to develop a model that could be replicated in similar urban areas of
the country,” said Arlinda Eaton, dean of the Bagwell College of Education and co-principal
investigator for the program. “The TQP program provides resources to prepare teachers
to teach in high-need schools and support them in their first critical years. We are
eager to engage in a research agenda that will allow us to contribute to the efforts
being made to link teacher preparation and effectiveness to K-12 student learning.”
The Bagwell College of Education and teacher preparation partners in the College of
Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Mathematics at KSU will
work with the Cobb County School District to develop, implement and evaluate teacher
preparation within seven “professional development schools.”
The partnership seeks to reform teacher preparation programs to prepare candidates
to teach in resource-poor, diverse, urban communities. The programs will be offered
onsite at the schools, where candidates will have intensive clinical experiences combined
with coursework co-taught by KSU/Cobb County School District faculty.
“We know that among all the variables that affect student achievement, the quality
of the classroom teacher is the most significant,” said Steve Constantino, associate
superintendent for the Cobb County School District and co-principal investigator.
“Our Board of Education has identified teacher quality as a priority for our strategic
plan. This grant allows Cobb and KSU to produce better quality teachers through a
professional development school model where teachers not only learn about effective
teaching, but are able to apply that learning almost immediately. The staff of these
schools will also benefit from the rich professional learning that will occur. This
is a win-win for Cobb and KSU.”
Reforms will address needs in literacy, technology and the role of family as stakeholders
in learning. They will also include the development of high-need teacher preparation
concentrations such as ESOL, reading, economics and special education.
The schools that comprise the partnership are Birney Elementary School, Fair Oaks
Elementary School, Hollydale Elementary School, LaBelle Elementary School, Milford
Elementary School, Smitha Middle School and Osborne High School.
As part of the TQP, Bagwell College will develop an Urban Education Emphasis within
its undergraduate teaching programs in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Middle
Grades Education and Secondary Education, specifically in the disciplines of math,
science, English and social studies.
It additionally seeks to establish several graduate-level programs for teachers within
the seven professional development schools, including an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership,
an Ed.S. in Teacher Leadership, a Coaching Endorsement program, a Teacher Leader Endorsement
program and an Assessment Certificate program.
The grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation
and Improvement as part of the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009.
A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its approximately 38,000 students. With 13 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the third-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 92 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status, and one of the 50 largest public institutions in the country. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.
