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CAMPUSES STUDENTS FACULTY & STAFF ALUMNI VISITORS & FRIENDS |
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ASU gets $9.9 million to improve K-8 underserved education areasU.S. Dept. of Education No Child Left Behind grant is largest received to date by an ASU West campus college Arizona State University’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership has received a $9.97 million grant from the U. S. Dept. of Education for “Teacher Quality Enhancement.” On behalf of U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Susan Sclafani presented the grant award check to ASU officials in a ceremony Tuesday.
Dr. Scott Ridley, associate professor in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership at ASU’s West campus and principal investigator in the grant, outlined the program’s goals:
The No Child Left Behind’s Teacher Quality Enhancement program includes partnership, state and recruitment grants. The partnership grants support projects to increase the number of highly qualified teachers, particularly in core subject areas such as math and science, using research-based teaching methods. “The announcement of this grant not only signals good news for students of this state but acts as a powerful reinforcement of our vision of ASU as firmly embedded in the life of our communities,” said Dr. Mark Searle, vice president and provost at ASU’s West campus. Teacher knowledge created as a result of this university-school collaboration ultimately will benefit all Arizona schoolchildren. “Our K-8 school districts, the immediate beneficiaries of the grant, play a fundamental role in the task of producing the kind of educated work force that make the American dream of upward mobility possible,” Dr. Searle said. The grant will maintain three existing partner districts in high-need urban districts of metropolitan Phoenix—Madison, Osborn and Avondale school districts—while adding four new partner districts in remote, underserved areas of Arizona. The latter group includes the Chinle Unified School District in Chinle, the Whiteriver Unified School District in Eastern Arizona, Indian Oasis-Baboquivari Unified School District in Sells, and Douglas Unified School District in Douglas. Chinle school superintendent, Dr. Leon Ben, was characteristic of district officials in his appreciation of the program, saying: “Our daily bus runs equate to driving between Los Angeles and New York. Most of this travel is on dirt roads. Because of the isolation, we continue to have significant turnover of staff. I envision several important benefits of the project—in developing new teachers who are committed to remaining in the area, in providing ongoing high-quality staff development, and in training teachers in strategies that are most appropriate for our students.” “The real heart of this project is the partnership,” Ridley said. “None of the partner institutions could do this on their own. But together we can accomplish great things.” Corporate partners, Sonic Foundry and Intel Corporation also received recognition for their participation. Sonic Foundry will provide on-site installation and training assistance for distance learning technology. Intel will provide expertise in classroom technology integration, provide an Intel senior manager to advise the project team on state-of-the-art technology applications and provide collateral infrastructure to support the seven remote partner district classrooms. “Intel Corporation is a committed partner to education and welcomes this opportunity to collaborate with ASU’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership,” said Dr. Eugenia Echols, Intel education programs manager. Dr. Joseph Ryan, interim dean of the College of Teacher Education and Leadership at the ASU West campus noted that the grant advances the mission of the college and the university to “develop the best teachers in the world for the students of our state.” September 14, 2004
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