ERIC Number: ED503106
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jun
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Update on the Commission's Improving Teacher Quality Grants Program. Commission Report 08-11
California Postsecondary Education Commission
This brief report provides an update on the status of the Commission's Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) Program, now in the midst of its 2008 competition to provide teacher professional development grants to California colleges and universities. The 2008 Request for Proposals was released in early March. Technical assistance meetings to explain the specifics of this year's initiative to potential proposers were held in early April in Sacramento and in Orange County. The initiative targets the achievement gap in elementary schools. It requires proposers to use a whole-school approach and develop teacher leaders who can help turn around failing schools. A total of 30 proposals were received by the Commission's May 13 deadline. The proposals are now being reviewed by three panels of readers. Additionally, in mid-April, a team of representatives from the U.S. Department of Education visited the Commission as part of their periodic program monitoring of Title II-A programs. The team spent most of its time in California visiting school districts in the Los Angeles area and meeting with California Department of Education (CDE) Title II staff. At the conclusion of the meeting, the team requested that the Commission staff improve its monitoring protocols, with a greater assurance that each project receives at least one visit or desk review each year. Lastly, ITQ Program Administrator Karen Humphrey was recently invited to a meeting of the Deans of Schools of Education from all teacher training institutions in California. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has invited the deans to meet annually to discuss teacher preparation issues. The meeting focused on culturally competent pedagogy and on addressing the needs of English learners--two topics closely linked with the achievement gap seen among California's students.
Descriptors: Grants, Research Proposals, Audits (Verification), Meetings, Teacher Education Programs, Educational Improvement, Teacher Effectiveness
California Postsecondary Education Commission. 770 L Street Suite 1160, Sacramento, CA 95814. Tel: 916-322-9268; Fax: 916-327-4417; e-mail: Publication_Request@cpec.ca.gov; Web site: http://www.cpec.ca.gov
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: California Postsecondary Education Commission
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A