Faculty bring in $23M+ in grants to end September

Faculty in the College of Education and Human Development are making great gains toward changing the world of education for the better. In the last week of September, faculty brought in more than $23 million in grants to support various research projects across the college.

aggieTERM

Now in its second year, aggieTERM received a $13.3 million Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the US Department of Education.

The grant will allow aggieTERM to continue in both Bryan ISD and Caldwell ISD while also expanding to Hearne ISD and Austin ISD. The hope is to reduce the number of teachers leaving the profession while also placing qualified teachers in high-need schools.

“At the heart of this award is the opportunity to collaborate with our local school district partners on two issues for which we are mutually passionate: teacher quality and retention. Together we are working to overcome 21st-century challenges in teacher education,” said Dr. Valerie Hill-Jackson, assistant dean of educator preparation.

The Aggie Teacher Education Residency Model, or aggieTERM, provides undergraduate education students with a year-long clinical residency to develop the classroom expertise to become effective, long-term educators in their chosen districts.

By expanding to Hearne and Austin, 50 preservice teachers will have the opportunity to participate in aggieTERM. They will be given a one-year residency and a 12-month stipend in exchange for a commitment to teach in their chosen district for a minimum of three years after their residency.

GEAR UP

With a goal of helping students prepare for and succeed in post-secondary education, Drs. Linda Castillo and Marcia Montague received a grant to implement the Heart of Texas GEAR UP Partnership Project. 

The $6.3 million grant from the US Department of Education will provide comprehensive support services to more than 1,200 seventh grade students in Bryan ISD and Hearne ISD.

Grant staff involved in the project will provide numerous services including counseling, mentoring, job shadowing and career activities to cohort students.

Aggie ACHIEVE

In another grant from the US Department of Education, Aggie ACHIEVE was awarded $2 million from the Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. 

The grant provides funding over the next five years to support staff, students, research, program expansion and outreach efforts to other schools across the state.

Aggie ACHIEVE launched in fall 2019 as the first four-year, inclusive residential postsecondary education program in Texas for young adults with intellectual disabilities. The mission is to provide an inclusive and immersive college experience while also equipping students for competitive, integrated employment in their chosen profession. Approximately 50 students will be served in the next five years.

With this grant, Aggie ACHIEVE plans to share the current model with other universities in Texas to expand the capacity of inclusive higher education opportunities across the state. Aggie ACHIEVE will also work with school districts across the state to provide training and outreach to transition educators. 

“The TPSID grant will open many new doors for our students and staff. The funding will allow us to offer new opportunities for our students, conduct and disseminate rigorous research, educate teachers and families about high-quality transition preparation, and support other institutions to start similar programs across the state,” said Dr. Carly Gilson, Aggie ACHIEVE faculty director and assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. “We are so grateful for this opportunity and thrilled to see what the next five years will bring. We hope to forge new pathways toward inclusive higher education for students with IDD across Texas.”

APLUS

Thanks to the initial success, the Accelerated Preparation of Leaders for Underserved Schools, or APLUS, project received additional funding from the US Department of Education to continue work with school districts across the state.

The $1.9 million grant extension is funded by the Supporting Effective Educator Development grant program and will help the Education Leadership Research Center reach more than half the high-needs schools in Texas.

So far, APLUS has helped prepare 100 educational teacher leaders to move into higher levels of leadership on high-needs campuses that serve English learners, diverse ethnic groups and economically challenged students. Thousands of teachers and school administrators have also participated in virtual professional development sessions provided through APLUS.