EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD
1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 225, Frankfort,
KY 40601
(502) 573-4606 * Toll Free (888) 598-7667 FAX:
(502) 573-1038
Date: October 4, 2002
Contact: Susan Leib
Frankfort, Kentucky
(502) 573-4606
Teachers to
benefit from multi-million dollar grant
(Frankfort, Ky.) A multi-million dollar grant will help Kentucky teachers increase student learning and increase statewide accountability for the impact of teacher performance on student achievement. The Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) recently received a Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant that, over a three-year period, will total $11,408,260.
The funding will aid in the development of a two-year internship for new teachers - building upon the current one-year Kentucky Teacher Internship Program (KTIP). The two-year format will include strong mentoring in the first year of teaching and observation and assessment (with continued assistance/mentoring) in the second year.
Governor Paul Patton said the funding will have a significant impact on education in Kentucky.
"As Governor, I have a sustaining responsibility to make sure that our government invests in our state's education system. This has been a goal of my administration since day one," Patton said. "I'm very pleased that Kentucky has received this Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant. It will benefit our teachers, but just as importantly, it will benefit our students. This grant will help our children gain a top-notch education across the state."
The grant funding will be used for:
· On-line
modules to support new teachers and mentors, and facilitate the collection of
the teacher work samples;
· Payments
to mentors and resource teachers assisting new teachers;
· Scoring
the portfolios/work samples of new teachers on a state level;
· Staff,
technical, and consultant support to develop and test work samples; and
· Training teachers and other school personnel how to be mentors.
The grant funding will also be used to support
research and data collection on the performance of new teachers in the
classroom. The results of this
research will be used to:
· Refine
teacher preparation to provide clear and discernable expectations for new
teacher performance;
· Improve
the internship program for new teachers, providing all teachers with a valuable
mentoring experience and ensuring a valid and reliable assessment of new teacher
performance evidenced by student achievement;
· Expand
or collapse the teacher standards in Kentucky (possibly eliminating the
bifurcation between “new” and “experienced” teacher standards into one
set of standards with defined performance levels and expectations for
performance throughout the teacher’s career);
· Propose
statewide improvements to the internship program for all new teachers;
· Serve
as a foundation for evaluation of all teachers through advanced certification
for school-level evaluation, and for pilot differential compensation plans; and
· Assist
policymakers in decisions on how teachers are assessed for certification.
The EPSB was established as part of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform
Act to oversee the education profession. The
board is charged with establishing standards of performance both for preparation
programs and practitioners; accrediting educator preparation programs at
colleges, universities, local school districts, and private contractors;
selecting assessments for teachers and administrators; overseeing internship
programs for new teachers and new principals; operating the Continuing Education
Option for Rank change program; administering Kentucky's inventive program for
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification; and issuing,
renewing, suspending and revoking Kentucky certificates for professional school
personnel.
For more information on the EPSB, call (502) 573-4606 or visit the web
site at www.kyepsb.net.
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