Ed Department doles out cash for principal, teacher development
The U.S. Department of Education has invested $24.6 million in the development of principals and teachers for the nation’s classrooms. Department officials hope that by investing in the leaders of schools and classrooms students will benefit, resulting in improved academic achievement.
“Effective teachers and principals are so central to boosting student achievement and producing better outcomes for children,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a press release announcing the investment. “These grants are excellent examples of ways to support teachers and school leaders and develop the next generation of world-class educators.”
Three grants will be given out under the Supporting Effective Educators Development (SEED) program to support and promote teacher and principal development. The three organizations set to share the grant money are Teach for America, the National Writing Project and the New Teacher Center.
Teach for America will be awarded $8.3 million and plans to use the funds “to support more than 9,000 teachers in high-need schools during the current school year, and recruit, select, train and place up to 5,800 new teachers for the 2012-13 school year.” The funds will also bankroll part of the costs of the organization’s summer teaching institutes in eight cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Tulsa. Additionally, the money will be used to recruit potential teachers at college campuses.
The National Writing Project will see $11.3 million to train 3,000 K-12 teachers on how to instruct in the area of writing. Those teachers will then be used to train teachers in schools across the nation. The New Teacher Center will receive $4.98 million to support 1,200 new teachers and principals in Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Schools and will “provide intensive support for each beginning teacher and new principal to ensure that they are having a positive impact on student learning right from the start of their careers.”
