School of Education earns $1.5M grant

The U.S. Department of Education has donated $1.5 million to the IU School of Education. \nAccording to a press release, the grant will fund a collaboration between Indianapolis Public Schools and the School of Education at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, promoting better preparation for teachers involved in the English Language Learners program. \nChuck Carney, director of communications and media relations for the School of Education, said that the number of ELL students has “boomed” over the last 10 years. According to the press release, the Indiana Department of Education reports IPS had 3,244 ELL students during the school year 2005-06, compared with only 257 ELL students just a decade earlier.\n“The state was not preparing enough teachers,” Carney said. “These IU programs are vital for an issue that is only going to grow.”\nThe grant promotes five years worth of services, a revision of university curricula, evaluations of teacher effectiveness and preparations for more secondary teachers for IPS schools, according to the press release.\nCarney said that in order to accomplish these tasks, money is vital. The $1.5 million will be distributed over five years, with a goal of training 75 “master teachers” by the end of this time. The teachers will then be prepared to mentor new teachers entering beginning ELL teaching, according to the press release. \nProject Director Annela Teemant said in the press release that the program will help to build on the good work that teachers are already doing.\n“The important thing to remember is Bloomington has a huge program turning out ELL teachers,” Carney said. “This will make it easier to get the quality instruction that we need to train this growing group in Indiana.”