Press Release - USM to Enhance Teacher Quality in PGCPS
November 2, 2000
University System of Maryland to Enhance Teacher Quality in Prince
George's Schools with $4.1 Million from U.S. Department of Education
The University System of Maryland (USM) has been awarded $4.1 million by the
U.S. Department of Education over five years to enhance teacher quality in
Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS), one of the state's largest
public-school systems. The USM will partner with three schools of education in
the System - at the University of Maryland, College Park, Towson University, and
Bowie State University - as well as with the PGCPS and Prince George's Community
College, to improve the retention rate of new teachers in the school system
while simultaneously professionalizing the teacher-development program. The USM
program, known as Project LINC (Learning IN Communities) is one of eight
recipients of the new teacher-training grants across the U.S., which were
recently announced by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University System is actively engaged in creating synergies with and
opportunities for interaction at the K-12 levels of education, according to USM
Chancellor Donald N. Langenberg. The Chancellor said he has tallied well over
100 programs within the USM institutions that have at least a K-12 component, if
not a primary purpose involving K-12.
These programs range from activities designed to offer students early exposure
to college and boost student achievement in science and mathematics, to
professional development workshops for teachers and principals. Providing such
programs is part of a strategic effort by the USM to cultivate a seamless
educational system.
"We are beginning to breach the walls that have existed for decades between
university professor and eighth-grade teacher, for example," Langenberg
said. "A long time ago it might have made sense to have that separation -
professionalism, the amount of training it took to become a professor, and so on
- but now that we see how important it is to begin a student's college
preparation as early as the middle-school years, we know we must look at
education as a broad continuum. It lasts from pre-school all the way through
post-graduate training, and, in fact, the learning can go on throughout a
person's life. I think those involved in that incredibly sophisticated process
should be talking to each other and working together - it's as
simple as that."
The goals of Project LINC are "simple," in that respect:
- Create an extended mentoring and induction program for new teachers;
- Redesign teacher education via professional development schools and
collaboration between arts and sciences and education faculty;
- Recruit additional math and science teachers into the PGCPS with scholarships
and stipends;
- Infuse technology into teaching and learning with a kindergarten-through-college
model.
Project LINC will unfold over the course of five years. At the end of that
period it is expected that the number of new teachers in PGCPS who choose to
remain on the job will improve significantly - by as much as one-third or
even one-half. Over the five years of the federal grant, the partnering
institutions are expected to pick up an increasing percentage of the support for
the project activities, until they become integrated into the "education
culture" of Prince George's schools as well as in the participating USM
institutions.
According to Nancy Shapiro, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at
the USM and project director for LINC, the first nine months will entail
intensive planning at both PGCPS and the three participating schools of
education at Bowie, Towson, and College Park. The three universities will begin
to recruit approximately 20 education students per school into the program,
while at the same time, students who are already student-teaching or otherwise
preparing to start their first teaching jobs will be recruited into the
mentoring program.
Project LINC will involve a variety of approaches to strengthening the quality
of the teachers at PGCPS; for example, College Park plans to create a new
master's certification program designed to attract teacher candidates with
strong mathematics and science backgrounds into teaching. Also, through the
grant funds, PGCPS will be able to dramatically expand its mentoring program to
reach 100 newly hired teachers in the first year, and up to 400 new teachers by
the fifth year of the grant. Towson University will partner with Prince George's
Community College (PGCC) to create a unique opportunity for PGCC students to transition into a Towson teacher education program on the
PGCC campus. Bowie State will expand its technology enhancement program in the
schools, and its work to help certify provisional teachers in PGCPS. In
addition, Oracle Corporation will contribute technology training, hardware, and
software as part of Project LINC, and the American Academy of Sciences will
offer science curriculum workshops in the public schools.
The first cohort of potential mentor-teachers at Towson, College Park and Bowie
will be identified by the beginning of the upcoming semester.
"This grant involves many people and programs, all of which will be focused
on building bridges between the universities and the Prince George's
schools," Shapiro said. "Across the country there is an urgent need to
recruit, prepare, and retain highly qualified teachers. With this grant, the
U.S. Department of Education has recognized the University System of Maryland's
commitment to making a difference in our own neighborhood. If we can create a
nurturing, professionalized environment in these public schools, then the net
effect will be more people, coming from a lot of different backgrounds, seeing
teaching as a job not only worth taking, but worth keeping."
In a statement accompanying the news release announcing the teacher-training
grants, USDE Secretary Richard W. Riley said, "This program takes
traditional teacher education off the campus and into the heart of the classroom
and community."
Noted Langenberg: "Teachers in every discipline must be recognized as the
professionals they are, by their peers, their schools, and by the communities
whose young people are entrusted to their care. It's time we acted on that,
before the teacher shortage teaches us a bitter lesson about what we choose to
value. The timing of Project LINC, in that respect, could
not be better."
Contact:
Chris Hart
Phone: 301/445-2739
Pager: 301/507-2316
E-mail: chart@usmd.edu
