Improving Teacher Quality
Highly Qualified Teachers and Improving Teacher Quality (TQ) State Grant Program
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, signed into law Jan. 8, 2002, helps schools improve by focusing on accountability for results, freedom for states and communities, proven education methods and choices for parents.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), as the designated State Agency for Higher Education (SAHE), manages an annual grant selection for Title II, Part A funds. The funds are awarded to eligible partnerships to support innovative and effective professional development that improves teacher knowledge about content and data-driven decision making in the classroom.
The focus of NCLB is on scientifically based methods to improve teacher quality, school accountability and core content knowledge leading to increased student academic achievement. Oklahoma's Title II, Part A SAHE grant program will meet these priorities by funding high-quality professional development activities that will:
- Increase teacher content knowledge, improve instructional methodology and impact teacher awareness to utilize relevant state assessments data for decision-making processes in the classroom.
- Enhance teacher knowledge on how to utilize student achievement data to make effective adjustments in curriculum, instruction and formative/benchmark assessments.
- Provide teacher with challenging curriculum that aligns with Oklahoma's Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) and the ACT Standards for Transition.
- Include high levels of participation of higher education faculty to promote the inclusion of proven methods and knowledge within teacher education programs.
- Incorporate scientifically research-based curriculum and practices.
For more information about the program, contact the State Regents' NCLB project coordinator, Saeed Sarani, at ssarani@osrhe.edu or 405.225.9192.
