Saturday, November 7, 2009

Our 21st Century NSF GRANT Multidisciplinary Intention (Collaboration)

Grant to boost Mich. teachers

Selected universities to offer mentoring, training to students



By PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI


FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER


Michigan will receive a $16.7-million grant to provide mentoring and training to new math and science teachers who promise to teach in school districts with high need, such as Detroit Public Schools or Benton Harbor.

“We want to keep people here, young mathematicians and scientists, to teach Michigan kids,” said Gov. Jennifer Granholm, present for Friday’s grant announcement. The funding includes a $30,000 stipend for 240 students and a $500,000 grant to participating universities.

It is being paid for by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which supports families, children and communities, and the Woodrow Wilson National Fel lowship Foundation, which provides fellowships in education and other areas.

“Our focus is on vulnerable children,” said Sterling Speirn, president and chief executive officer of the Kellogg Foundation.

Six Michigan universities will be selected to take part in the training in early 2010. The selected universities will be asked to change their teaching program to include collaboration with math and science departments.

They will also be asked to provide a greater amount of classroom experiences and in tensive mentoring for the stu dents during their first three years of teaching. An independent study will be done at the end of the 5-year grant period to determine the effectiveness of the new programs.

Math and science majors are preferred, but candidates can include people with back grounds in fields such as ac counting or engineering.

Fellows will complete an in tensive master’s degree program and move into the class room by fall of 2012.
 

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