Archive
5/8/2006
Contact:
Sandy Connolly
Minnesota Office of Higher Education
(651) 259-3902
Twenty-two continuation grants totaling over $900,000 were awarded to Minnesota higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations to support improved K-12 instruction in mathematics, science, and social studies, the Office of Higher Education announced today.
"The funded programs are designed to improve student achievement through professional development activities demonstrated to be effective by scientifically-based research," said Nancy Walters, Program Manager for the Office of Higher Education. "Each of these programs has a documented track record of success."
The grants to improve teacher quality through higher education - totaling $909,140 - were made available with federal funding from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 targeted specifically to the Improving Teacher Quality program. This year, continuation grants were awarded to 22 of the 2004 grantees who had successfully met first- and second-year objectives and wanted to conduct a third year of program activities. With the funds designed for higher education under this initiative, each state higher education agency provides competitive grants to higher education partnerships that include one or more high-needs school districts.
In total, Minnesota received $38 million for 2005-2006 under the federal Improving Teacher Quality Program. The Minnesota Department of Education administers the larger portion of these funds for state and district-level teacher quality efforts.
As a state formula grant program, the federal award makes funds available to state education agencies, local school districts, and state agencies for higher education to support and help shape state and local activities to improve teacher quality. The purpose of the federal funding is continued student achievement and ensuring that all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified by the end of the 2006-2007 academic year.
The grants awarded from the Office of Higher Education for the Improving Teacher Quality Program support sustained in-service programs in mathematics, science, and social studies for K-12 teachers and for highly-qualified paraprofessionals in mathematics. Funded projects will work with schools having the greatest need to improve student achievement and teachers in need of licensure by the Minnesota Board of Teaching.
Project Description | Grant Amount |
---|---|
I. In-service Projects for Teachers in Mathematics | |
Algebraic Habits of Mind Macalester College | $43,891 |
Mathematics Within University of Minnesota | $43,451 |
Building Discrete Mathematics and Patterns & Functions with Elementary and Middle School Teachers Bemidji State University | $44,239 |
Improving Teacher Quality in K-8 Geometry Bemidji State University | $47,337 |
II. In-service Mathematics Projects for Teachers and Highly-Qualified Paraprofessionals | |
Foundations of Arithmetic I Bemidji State University | $30,834 |
Foundations of Arithmetic II Bemidji State University | $30,843 |
III. In-service Projects for Teachers in Science | |
Monarchs & More: Insect Ecology for Teachers University of Minnesota | $47,982 |
Schoolyards, Science and Sustainability: Field Ecology for Teachers University of Minnesota | $45,090 |
Investigative Plant Biology for Elementary Teachers University of Minnesota | $45,116 |
Investigating Molecular Biology and Biotechnology University of Minnesota | $47,010 |
Teaching Science through Examples from Renewable Materials such as Paper, Wood, and their Recycling University of Minnesota | $39,085 |
Earth Science Systems for Teachers Century College | $36,611 |
A Hybrid On-line Licensure Program for Physics & Chemistry Bemidji State University | $47,585 |
Inquiring Minds: 2006 Itasca Field Biology University of Minnesota | $45,022 |
Project IDEA - Inquiry into Diet, Exercise, and Anatomy St. Cloud State University | $36,027 |
Discovering Science on the Range in the Field of Energy: Part III CREED Project | $40,789 |
IV. In-service Projects for Teachers in Social Studies | |
Imagining History The College of St. Scholastica | $35,116 |
Authentic Pedagogy for Integrating Reading into the State Standards for Geography Macalester College | $45,000 |
Using Children's Literature to Teach Economics MN Council on Economic Education | $34,252 |
Educator Preparation for Economics Academic Standards MN Council on Economic Education | $48,000 |
Enhancing Social Studies Curricula with Economics MN Council on Economic Education | $36,260 |
Using Paideia Seminars in Social Studies Augsburg College | $39,600 |
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