"Our Fellows program is deeply committed to empowering teacher candidates ... to make a powerful difference in young lives."--DeLacy Ganley, Dean, School of Educational Studies at CGU
CLAREMONT, Calif. (PRWEB) October 24, 2019
A $3.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education has been awarded to Claremont Graduate University’s (CGU) Department of Teacher Education to develop and cultivate educators-in-training for the Claremont Teaching Fellows Program.
Over five years, the grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program will enable the university’s Teaching Fellows program—in partnership with Alliance College-Ready Public Schools—to strengthen its preparation of resilient, highly-effective K-12 educators to meet the needs of underserved student populations in the greater Los Angeles area.
“Our Fellows program is deeply committed to empowering teacher candidates with the social justice and evidence-based knowledge to make a powerful difference in young lives,” said DeLacy Ganley, who is the dean of CGU’s School of Educational Studies. “We are thrilled and excited to have been selected for this award along with Alliance.”
Teacher Education Director Eddie Partida is the grant’s primary architect and will serve as its director. Ganley and CGU Postdoctoral Research Fellow Rebecca Hatkoff are the grant’s co-principal investigators. Alliance is a charter school network that has successfully served low-income communities in the greater Los Angeles area for the past 15 years.
Graduate students will be recruited and selected by Alliance and CGU for the Fellows program and will receive funding along with exemplary mentorship and instruction as they develop their pedagogy and an understanding of the strengths and needs of the communities they serve.
Students chosen for the program will take classes at the university during the evenings and weekends and work during the day as paid residents teaching in Alliance Schools. After earning their preliminary credential as well as a master’s degree in Education from CGU, the Fellows will start the university’s Induction Program in order to earn a Clear California Teaching Credential.
“CGU Teaching Fellows will gain valuable experience working in a school culture seeped in educational equity,” explained Dan Katzir, Alliance chief executive officer. “Fellows will witness firsthand what it means to put scholars first: To set high expectations, provide equally high levels of support and resources, and to approach every instructional day with a clear goal of preparing scholars for college completion.”
This year the U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $20 million in funding to support innovative models that prepare prospective and new teachers to serve students in high-need schools. The award to CGU and Alliance was one of just 31 awards given this year to some two dozen school districts, institutions of higher education, and nonprofits.
For Partida, the tuition-reducing fellowship and living stipend will make “an enormous difference in the graduate experience of the program’s fellows.” He points to research that suggests that teachers who are provided with high levels of quality support are more likely to stay in the profession and to have a positive impact as compared with less well-mentored peers.
As a condition of participation, the Teaching Fellows sign a service agreement, pledging to teach in an Alliance School for at least three years after earning their Preliminary Credential. As such, the program creates a pipeline of support and effective teachers for Alliance Schools.
Cohorts of Teaching Fellows will be recruited to start in January 2021, January 2022, January 2023, and January 2024. There will be 20 Teaching Fellows per cohort.
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About Claremont Graduate University and the School of Educational Studies
Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is one of a select few American universities devoted solely to graduate-level education. The university is a founding member of The Claremont Colleges and comprises seven schools, offering 86 degree and certificate programs. When CGU first opened its doors, the field of education and educational administration were the university’s earliest offerings. Today the School of Educational Studies is renowned for its leadership in preparing educators, administrators, and scholars to respond to the unprecedented challenges now facing the worlds of K-12 and higher education. For more information: http://www.cgu.edu/ses
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About Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is one of the largest and most successful nonprofit public charter school networks in the nation, operating 25 high-performing, public charter middle and high schools that educate nearly 13,000 scholars from Los Angeles’ most systematically underserved communities. Alliance schools have been recognized as among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, the U.S. Department of Education, and the California Department of Education. Since opening its first school in 2004, 95% of Alliance scholars have graduated from high school and been accepted to college, 73% to a four-year college or university. For more information: http://www.laalliance.org