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WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today announced two U.S. Department of Education grants totaling more than $2 million in Teacher Quality Partnership Grants aimed at putting better-prepared teachers in urban-area classrooms in order to help more students complete their education. William Paterson University was awarded $1,733,003.64 (as part of a joint initiative with Kean College and Rowan University) and Montclair State University received $674,473.64 for the period Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010.
“The key to preserving the prosperity of any society is education,” said Pascrell, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and a former educator who wrote in support of the universities’ grant applications. “This funding will help establish an innovative program to help provide better teachers in the schools that need them the most. That will help ensure future prosperity for us all.”
The universities will use the funding to establish residency programs in their pre-Baccalaureate programs based on the premise that more specialized education for teachers in urban schools will led to more students staying in school.
A teaching resident will graduate from the program with a master’s degree as well as expertise in critical areas including special education, ESL and bilingual education. Professional development will also be available to teaching residents.
The funding expected to impact 2,500 new teachers each year who will graduate from the restructured, clinically-based pre-baccalaureate programs of the partnering institutions.
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