Grambling is awarded $3.1M grant from U.S. Dept. of Education

The U.S. Department of Education announced recently that it has awarded Grambling State University a grant in the amount of $3.1 million over a five-year period. The grant is received under the “Transition to Teaching Program.”

“The program supports efforts to recruit mid-career professionals and recent graduates with degrees outside of education and then help these recruits become teachers through alternative certification routes,” the U.S. Department of Education said. “The program also emphasizes placing teachers in high-need schools. Teacher candidates supported by the project are required to teach in high-need schools for at least three years.”

Dr. Carolyn Jackson, Grant PI & Project Director, states, “the proposal was submitted in May of this year and I was absolutely ecstatic when I got the news. With this award, we will be able to recruit, train and retain recent college graduates and mid-career changers as teachers of record in our state’s high-needs and rural school districts. GSU already has a post baccalaureate, certification-only program called Teach GSU. With this grant we will expand that initiative through the development of a Master’s degree program, the Alternative Teacher Certification Project (ATCP). The ATCP will allow eligible participants to receive full, state, teacher certification AND a Master’s of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree within approximately 16 months. A major focus of our project will be the recruitment of individuals who have an undergraduate degree in a STEM discipline. I am excited and ready for the challenge and task.”

The “Transition to Teaching Program” will help address teacher shortages in STEM content areas through the recruitment, training and placement of teacher interns. In addition, the project aims to provide opportunities for job embedded training, on-site mentoring and induction activities to increase teacher retention. “Under this program participants are eligible to receive a stipend of up to $5,000 through the grant,” says Dr. Jackson.

“It is no surprise to me that the project was funded because Dr. Jackson wrote an excellent grant. The ability to earn both certification and a graduate degree will likely increase our enrollment in graduate education at GSU and will eventually have a positive effect on supplying highly qualified teachers in high-needs schools,” said Dr. Wynetta Lee, Dean of the College of Education at GSU.”

Grambling State University is one of 30 grantees from across the country to be awarded the Transition to Teaching Program grant. In addition, Grambling is one of two institutions in the State of Louisiana and the only HBCU to receive the award this year.

For additional information con­tact Dr. Wynetta Lee, Dean of the College of Education at (318) 274-2231 or www.gram.­edu/aca­de­mics/ma­jors/edu­cation.

This article was originally published in the October 17, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper