Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) / Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) State Grant Program
Overview
Eligible Partnership Guidelines
Resources
Photo Gallery Archives
Success Stories
Overview
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), under provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act 2001 and Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ), has supported effective professional development activities for teachers for decades. 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. America’s educational system’s goal clearly states that every student should graduate from high school ready for college or a career. But while all states have developed and implemented standards as required under the ESEA, in many cases, these standards do not reflect the knowledge and skills needed for success after high school, either in further education or in a job. Four out of every 10 new college students, including half of those at two-year institutions, take remedial courses, and many employers comment on the inadequate preparation of high school graduates.
The ESEA through the Title II-A, ITQ State Grant Program has concentrated on increasing academic achievement of all students by helping schools and districts improve teacher and principal quality and by ensuring that all teachers are highly qualified. Under NCLB, while states have developed assessments aligned with their standards, in many cases these assessments do not adequately measure student growth or the knowledge and skills that students need, nor do they provide timely, useful information to teachers.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) is the authorized state agency for higher education (SAHE) in Oklahoma. This is the last year that the SAHE can offer Title II-A subgrants under the provision of ITQ. This is a competitive grant application utilizing a peer-review award process as required by ESEA regulations. The ITQ Grant Program for higher education will support measurable and sustainable high-quality professional development activities to improve teachers’ content knowledge and/or effectiveness in mathematics, science and reading and language arts.
Eligible Partnership Guidelines
In accordance with federal statute, the State Regents award Title II, Part A grants to eligible partnerships. A partnership must include, at a minimum: (1) a private or public institution of higher education (IHE) and the division of the institution that prepares teachers and principals; (2) a school of arts and sciences that awards baccalaureate degrees; AND (3) a high-need local education agency (LEA). The education department (Partner #1) and the school of arts and sciences (Partner #2) may be housed within the same IHE.
The partnerships will use the funds to conduct professional development activities in core academic subjects to ensure that teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals and (if appropriate) principals have subject-matter knowledge in the academic subjects they teach, including computer-related technology to enhance instruction.
A high-need LEA is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as: (A) an LEA that serves not fewer than 10,000 children from families with incomes below the poverty line OR for which not less than 20 percent of the children served by the agency are from families with incomes below the poverty line AND (B) an LEA for which there is a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subjects or grade levels that the teachers were trained to teach OR for which there is a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional or temporary certification or licensing.
Resources
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (external link)
Department of Education – Office of Innovation and Improvement: Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Program Notice – FY 2009 Application for Grants Under the Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Program (external link)
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (external link)
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) (external link)
IDEA: Questions and Answers on Highly Qualified Teachers (external link)
No Child Left Behind (external link)
No Child Left Behind: A Toolkit for Teachers (external PDF file)
Oklahoma Parent Information and Resource Center (external link)
Online Math and Science Resources (external link)
Private School Resource Link (external link)
Request for Applications – Fiscal Year 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (FY09-ARRA) (external link)
Title II Guidance (external Microsoft Word file)
Title II Statutory Language for the Teacher Quality Partnership Grants (PDF, 164k)
U.S. Department of Education (DOE) (external link)
U.S. DOE Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (external link)
U.S. DOE Publications (external link)
U.S. DOE Resources for Teachers (external link)
Photo Gallery Archives
Click on photos to view larger version.
The University of Tulsa's 2008 Sense-Sational Science Program
OU-ESR 2008 – Every Student Reads: Oklahoma Teachers Implementing Research-Based Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Instruction
EQUAL 2007 – Effective QUality for All Learners
IMPACKT 2007 – Improving Mathematics Pedagogy and Content Knowledge for Teachers in Oklahoma
KESAM 2007 — K-8 Scholars Appreciating Mathematics: Hands-On Brains-On Journey of Excellence
Math-Ese 2D 2007 – Improving Student Comprehension of Mathematics: Representations Using Technology (external link)
Success Stories
University of Oklahoma – Every Student Succeeds
Teacher testimonial from Brandi Baugh: "Mr. Sarani, I wanted to let you know that I thouroughly enjoyed the OK Writing Project: Writing Across the Curriculum Class I took this summer with Pricilla Griffith. The class provided me with so many resources and lesson plans for writing. I was able to make my students' minds come alive and they became inspired to try harder in their writing and make their stories and essays dance with creative language. I am sorry to hear there is not enough funding for the writing project this year. I was planning on highly recommending it to my co-workers. Thank you so much for your time!"
View more photos from Every Student Succeeds.
KESAM 2012 Summit
The KESAM Oklahoma K-8 Mathematics Summit for key stakeholders and leaders interested in improving Oklahoma mathematics instruction and student performance was held Saturday, March 3, at the Oklahoma History Center Chesapeake Room in Oklahoma City.
Dr. John Woods, director of Kindergarten through Eighth Scholars Appreciating Mathematics (KESAM) and Southwestern Oklahoma State University mathematics professor emeritus, invited the public to take a brief look at K-8 professional development in mathematics that is having a significant impact on teachers, students and school districts across Oklahoma. The summit included an opportunity to discuss needs, barriers and low-cost solutions to many of the problems in student mathematics performance statewide.
KESAM has been developed through the continuing support of the U.S. Department of Education, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, SWOSU, Northeastern A&M College, Carl Albert State College and more than 100 public schools across Oklahoma. The summit included 90 teachers from around Oklahoma
SWOSU President Randy Beutler gave the welcome and introductions, and typical KESAM work sessions were held afterwards. This was followed by K-8 teachers reporting on recent experiences and a question/answer session.
View more photos from the 2012 KESAM Summit.
"Reading + Writing = Increased Math Skills" Presentation at Association of Teacher Educators National Conference
The Association of Teacher Educator's 2012 Annual Meeting, held Feb. 11-15 at the Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, Texas, was a huge success with many favorable comments from attendees. One of our Improving Teacher Quality State Grant Program subgrant recipients from East Central University had an opportunity to present her grant at the conference. Dr. Brenda Walling, dean, College of Education and Psychology, presented on Reading + Writing = Increased Math Skills.
The University of Tulsa – SENSEsational Science and Educational Workshops Across the State
SENSEsational Science and Educational Workshops Across the State and its program director, Dr. Robert Howard, received a Great Inspirations Award at the 2011 State of Creativity Awards. The Great Inspirations Award recognizes and publicizes Oklahomans’ creative endeavors, solutions or activities as both a stimulus and an example for other corporations, organizations, communities or educational institutions at the annual Oklahoma Creativity Forum.
View more photos from the SENSEsational program.
Oklahoma State University – Beyond Read Aloud
The proposed project "Beyond Read Aloud" is a collaboration among Oklahoma State University faculty and seven public school districts in northwestern Oklahoma. The goal is to increase science content knowledge of young children, including ELL and DD students. Objectives include to:
- Increase the teaching and learning of science through language arts.
- Increase teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in meeting the needs of ELL.
- Improve teachers’ understanding of the benefits of inclusion.
- Develop a community of learners that supports teachers’ collaboration.
Professional development training includes hands-on activities and classroom resources. Teachers will engage in experiential activities in order to learn how to teach science and language arts in an integrated way, meeting state standards. Individual follow-up training will promote implementation of instructional strategies. The electronic community of learners will promote the sharing of ideas and experiences.
For more information, visit http://humansciences.okstate.edu/news-archive/1-latest/340-beyond-read-aloud.
