Office of Public Affairs
(315) 312-2265
Oct. 1, 2003
CONTACT: Dr. Suzanne Weber, 312-2102
GRANT TO SUNY OSWEGO TO HELP SUNY SCHOOLS
ASSESS FUTURE CLASSROOM TEACHING CANDIDATES
OSWEGO -- A newly awarded federal grant
to be managed by Dr. Suzanne Weber of SUNY Oswego and Dr. John Porter
of SUNY System Administration will help State University teacher
education programs enhance the training and assessment of future
classroom teachers.
A three-year $682,769 grant from the
federal Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education will
support collaboration between the 15 SUNY institutions that prepare
teachers and SUNY System Administration to develop and implement a new
system to assess the ability of prospective teachers to help K-12
students learn.
The goal is to enhance beginning teacher
competency and SUNY teacher education programs across the state, said
Weber, associate dean of SUNY Oswego's School of Education. SUNY
prepares about 25 percent of the more than 20,000 new teachers
recommended by colleges and universities for certification in New York
state each year.
"This project puts SUNY in a leadership
position in preparing the best and brightest teachers of tomorrow, and
we're pleased that SUNY Oswego is spearheading the project," said SUNY
Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley.
The project will develop a well-rounded
assessment model that can help judge and predict what makes a
successful teacher more effectively than standardized test scores can,
Weber said. "This is about teachers knowing the subject matter, and
it's especially about predicting whether teachers can engage children
in learning," she said.
State University of New York Chancellor
Robert L. King said, "SUNY teacher education programs have long been
recognized for a commitment to excellence. Our students continue to
outperform their peers on the state certification exams. I am very
pleased Professor Weber and Associate Provost Porter have won this
highly competitive grant, but more importantly, I look forward to the
positive impact their work will have on our exceptional teacher
education programs."
Weber and Porter, associate provost for
institutional research at SUNY System Administration, will co-manage
the grant, much of which will be redistributed to SUNY's teacher
education programs to allow them implement the assessment model.
A symposium Oct. 2 and 3 at the Marx
Hotel in Syracuse will advance the project. Faculty and administrators
from the 15 participating SUNY institutions and SUNY system officials
will attend the Teacher Education Assessment Symposium. Such symposia
will be held twice a year to promote the collaboration and feedback
required to make the project succeed, Weber said.
"One of the top goals in the No Child
Left Behind Act is to make sure students nationwide continue to have
the most highly qualified teachers possible," said Congressman John M.
McHugh, of New York's 23rd Congressional District. "This grant is great
news for New York students, making sure teachers graduating from SUNY
schools throughout the state are the best at what they do."
The 15 participating campuses are the
universities at Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook and the
colleges at Brockport, Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, New Paltz,
Old Westbury, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh and Potsdam.
The federal FIPSE grant will finance 41
percent of the State University's initiative in teacher education
assessment. The 15 campuses are sharing the remaining 59 percent of the
project costs, or $984,016.
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