The Carnegie Corporation of New York announced last Wednesday the selection of four institutions, including the University, which it has asked to submit proposals for a brand new initiative, the Teachers for a New Era Grant.
The philanthropic organization invited the Bank Street College of Education, California State University at Northridge, Michigan State University and the University to submit proposals for four projects in conjunction with the new program.
"I think our chances are very good of getting the funding," said Rebecca Kneedler, associate dean for academic affairs in the Education School.
The program will encourage the development of teacher education programs through innovative processes. Each college or university will be eligible to receive up to $5 million over the next five years that must be matched by the institution receiving the grant.
Carnegie selected the four institutions after examining about 300 programs that prepare teachers nationwide. The corporation then visited seven institutions and narrowed the pool down to four programs shortly thereafter.
"We see this as a very exciting opportunity," Kneedler said. "The Carnegie support will allow us to strengthen and improve our relationships with [the College of] Arts and Sciences."
A team of writers from the Education School, the College and the Provost's Office will collaborate on the proposal. They also plan to work with students to complete the proposal this summer.
The writers will work with the Carnegie Corporation to address the key components of the proposal. These include making the preparation of K-12 teachers the responsibility of the entire University community and an initiative to work with recent graduates to track their teaching careers post-graduation.
"This is a tremendous testimony to cooperation between schools at the University," College Dean Edward L. Ayers said. "The reason U.Va. got [the invitation] is because of a long standing cooperation between our two schools."
The Education School already works in conjunction with the College on many levels. All Education students start out as College students. Essentially, the Education School teaches people how to teach and the College teaches students about the subject matter they will teach.
The Carnegie award would be given to the Provost's Office, not directly to the Education School.
"The Carnegie Corporation wanted to make certain that the commitment to the project comes from the highest levels of the administration and that more than the educational school would be involved," University Provost Gene D. Block said.
The Carnegie Corporation will provide most of the funding for Teachers for a New Era, but the Annenberg, Ford and Rockefeller foundations, also will contribute financially to the effort.
"This is a novel grant both in the focus - an inter-school effort at developing excellence in content and pedagogy, and [the] scale - a multi-million dollar investment," Block said. "This is a grant that challenges us to be creative"
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