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For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 11, 1995
Contact:Alan Safran

Massachusetts Education Department Lands $1.3 Million for Teacher Education

Malden - Massachusetts Education Commissioner Robert V. Antonucci announced today that the state has been awarded a $1.3 million, three-year federal grant to advance teacher training programs in colleges of education and local public schools including:
Amherst, Boston, Brockton, Bridgewater, Raynham, Springfield and Worcester. Massachusetts is one of only nine states in the country to successfully compete for the new Dwight D. Eisenhower Initial Teacher Professional Development Program, sponsored by the United States Department of Education. Under this program, Massachusetts will strengthen teacher preparation programs by promoting collaborative partnerships between schools of education at colleges and their local school districts. Commissioner Antonucci stated, "Teachers need rigorous training in content knowledge and in teaching skills to help students learn. Excellence in teacher preparation is central to Education Reform." District teams of teachers, college faculty, administrators and school council members will convene in November to begin integrating the state's new curriculum frameworks into teacher preparation courses. The frameworks, which are teaching guides for the seven core academic subjects in the Massachusetts Common Core of Learning are expected to be approved by Commissioner Antonucci and the State Board of Education this fall. The model consortium sites for the Eisenhower initiative are:
The University of Massachusetts/Amherst & Springfield Public Schools; Bridgewater State College & Brockton Public Schools & Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District; Clark University & Worcester Public Schools; Lesley College & Boston Public Schools. Also included in the Consortium's membership are the Massachusetts Higher Education Coordinating Council, the Regional Laboratory for the Northeast and Islands, the Field Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, Harvard University, The Network, and Teachers 21. The Eisenhower Program will continue for three years, subject to federal appropriation. Authorized funding for FY96 is $418,182; for FY97 the amount is $431,970; and for FY98 the amount is $441,880. More than 50% of the funds are to be used directly by the district/college partnerships to promote new models of teacher preparation, and the balance will be used to provide and coordinate technical assistance on the new state standards for teacher certification and standards for curriculum.



Last Updated: October 11, 1995



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