CSUB lands $12.6 million grant to boost teacher quality
| Friday, Oct 02 2009 04:12 PM
Last Updated Friday, Oct 02 2009 04:12 PM
A $12.6 million grant from the federal government to Cal State Bakersfield will fund five years of improvement and innovation in the school's teacher eduction programs.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Education is aimed at improving teachers' skills and training so that students in rural areas can get a better basic education.
"The number one goal is to improve K-12 student achievement," said Curt Guaglianone, who wrote the grant for CSUB.
Guaglianone said the grant will be shared by California State University Monterey Bay and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and target improving student performance in 16 "high-need" schools in Kern, Tulare and Monterey counties.
In Kern County those schools will be in Wasco, Lamont, Delano and the Kern High School District.
"Part of our educational mission is to raise the education level in our community and throughout central California, and we can only be successful through strong partnerships with other educators. This grant provides a tremendous boost to that effort," stated CSUB President Horace Mitchell in a press release. "The grant will help in preparing effective teachers and improving student achievement, which in turn strengthens the economic future and viability of the region."
Guaglianone said the grant money will be used to accomplish four program goals that will enhance the three universities' teaching programs. They are:
* Improve teacher preparation.
* Support teachers in the classroom.
* Recruit teachers in the math, science and special education fields.
* Help support and develop school leadership.
"This allows us to do well beyond what we were going to be able to do with traditional state funding," Guaglianone said.
The money will allow college faculty to innovate in their training programs and help build an online network to help new teachers form a collaborative community where they can share ideas and build on individual experiences, he said.
Some of the money could go to pay college teachers to deliver lessons to their students in local high schools or elementary schools where they could explain a teaching method and then demonstrate that method with real students.
Or it could be used to help develop more mentor teacher relationships between new teachers and experienced ones, Guaglianone said.
Work to begin the enhanced program would begin in January 2010.
