The State System of Higher Education will use a $55,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments to help develop several “model classrooms” as part of a pilot project designed both to improve the quality of classroom teaching and to increase K-12 student learning.
Each of the 14 state-owned universities has been invited to submit a proposal to participate in the pilot effort, from which six projects will be selected. If the pilots are successful, System officials could seek to expand the program to include all of the institutions and many more elementary, middle and high school teachers and classrooms.
The project will involve collaborative efforts among colleges of education and their faculty, K-12 administrators and teachers and community groups to develop new models for teaching and learning. The goal is to produce better teachers coming out of college and to improve the teaching skills of those already in the classroom, said Stephen A. Pavlak, interim director of the Pennsylvania Academy for Teaching, who also will direct the project.
“If we graduate better-developed teachers and improve the skills of in-service teachers, students will benefit,” Pavlak said.
As part of the project, “learning and teaching” teams will be formed to develop new teaching models that will be tried out in actual classrooms. College faculty will work directly with K-12 teachers in the development and implementation of the models.
“This is another example of how, through collaboration with private partners, we can work together to improve education,” said State System Chancellor James H. McCormick. “Better teachers make better classrooms, where students can learn more.”
The universities interested in the pilot project will send their teams to Harrisburg in mid-June to meet with an educational consultant. The teams then will meet individually over the summer to develop their new models, with the intent that they could be tested beginning this fall.
The grant to fund the pilot program was awarded to the Fund for the Advancement of the State System of Higher Education Inc., which solicits private gifts in support of the 14 State System universities.
The State System of Higher Education comprises 14 universities throughout the Commonwealth and is the largest provider of higher education in the state. The System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney.