Innovative Teacher Prep Program Seeks to Improve Student Learning

U.S. Department of Education Awards Five-Year, $7.23 Million Grant to Bowie State

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – An innovative new teacher degree program at Bowie State University will cultivate expert educators who design culturally relevant lessons and find strategies to improve student success, thanks to a five-year, $7.23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Bowie State plans to develop a 18-month Master of Teacher Leadership degree program that will enroll about 100 novice educators to serve about 3,500 local students in Prince George’s County, District of Columbia and Dorchester County – three school districts where teacher shortages and family poverty are high. The goal is to produce problem-solving teachers who tailor their curriculum to the needs of their students in school districts that would benefit most from these highly trained educators. Successful candidates may be top recent graduates from an accredited education bachelor's degree program or career changers with real-world experience in their profession.

“Teacher leadership is not a new idea, but this is about improving the way in which we empower teachers. We thought it was an excellent model,” said Dr. Wil Parker, co-coordinator of the STAR program and chairperson of BSU’s Department of Educational Leadership. “It puts the student at the center of their learning. A lot of times in classrooms, teachers feel bound by teaching the content.”

The grant funding will cover the costs of the degree program, including tuition, fees and books, for 20 fellows per cohort, plus a monthly stipend. After completing the core curriculum, each candidate will be paired with an accomplished teacher during a one-year teacher residency in one of the partner school districts. The candidates will also hone their skills by earning a micro-credential focused on a specialty area in education, such as equity, technology and instructional strategies.

The result is a unique teacher education program that differs from traditional educational leadership degrees or advanced degrees focused on a specific content area, like reading or mathematics. Instead, it is designed to nurture and encourage teachers to become leaders within the classroom, creating systemic solutions that can benefit learning outcomes across the entire school population.

“Sometimes, teachers don’t want to become principals,” said Dr. Parker. “They want to stay in the classroom. We need to help them to lead from the classroom. What we want to do is give them the opportunity to have expertise to improve learning through an equitable lens and a professional instructional model.”

Dr. Parker knows the power that expert teacher have on student learning outcomes. For more than 10 years, he worked at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, where he could see the difference that these teachers made everyday.

“Those National Board-certified teachers are leading from the classroom,” he said. “We’re hoping that our teachers coming out of the Master of Teacher Leadership program will be able to do the same thing.”

Bowie State has a legacy of producing high-quality educators, including several local teachers of the year. The university’s historical roots, starting from its founding in 1865, are built on teacher education. In 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Bowie State’s graduate education programs among some of the nation’s best. The degree program has the potential to create model curriculum for other colleges and universities to follow.

“The candidates will not only develop solutions to these problems of practice, but will also write and publish evidence-based articles with their mentor teachers,” said Dr. Parker. “We are excited to develop these best practices, so that other institutions can take a look at what we’re doing.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.