Gov. Ralph Northam and Virginia Ed Strategies today announced that the nonprofit has been awarded an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education totaling $10.8 million over the next five years. Grant funds will support the creation of the Professional Learning by Choice Community or CHOICE as the organization has named the project. 

CHOICE will allow for teacher-directed professional development opportunities for up to 2,100 secondary science, mathematics, and computer science teachers across the Commonwealth. The  ultimate goal of the CHOICE community is to produce a cadre of highly-effective teachers, the vast majority of whom teach in rural school settings, who will build school-, division-, region-, and state-level capacity in a variety of learning environments (traditional, virtual, hybrid, etc.) and demonstrate a positive, sustained impact on student learning and achievement.

 

 “Of the 138 proposals submitted for EIR funding from the U.S. Department of Education, only 20 grants were awarded nationwide in fiscal year 2020. I am proud that Virginia Ed Strategies brought one of  these grants home to the commonwealth to support our incredible educators at a time when they need it most,” said Northam. “The CHOICE project will help ensure we are strategically creating opportunities for students who lack access to high-quality STEM education, by equipping Virginia educators in rural school divisions with increased capacity for teaching STEM disciplines in a variety of learning environments.”

For this project, Virginia Ed Strategies will be collaborating with the Virginia Department of Education in partnership with James Madison University, the Coalition of Small and Rural Schools of Virginia, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Virginia ASCD, CodeVA, the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, the Virginia School Consortium for Learning, and the Commonwealth Learning Partnership. 

 

 

“I am thrilled to have such a wealth of knowledge and expertise working with our organization on this  new initiative,” Virginia Ed Strategies President and CEO Jennifer Stevens said. “These partners will provide critical guidance in developing and implementing the tools and resources of the CHOICE community, and their collaboration will no doubt be instrumental to the success of this project.” CHOICE will focus on evidence-based best practices for teaching and learning in science, mathematics,
and computer science at the secondary level, and the majority of the 2100 teachers impacted by the project will be selected from rural school divisions where shortages in the STEM content areas are most critical.

Keith Perrigan, Superintendent of Bristol Virginia Public Schools and the President of the Coalition of Small and Rural Schools of Virginia, said, “Navigating the pandemic has been especially tough for rural teachers and students. Trying to provide virtual and hybrid learning options without time for adequate training as been one of our toughest challenges. This program will allow teachers to choose the training they need, based on their individual situations, and rural students will be the big winners.”

Two critical deliverables of the project will be a self-assessment tool that assists teachers in determining what they most need for professional growth and a customized online dashboard that enables teachers to self-select the learning experiences that best meet their individual needs. Training selected by teachers as well as any additional PD-associated costs such as travel or materials will be paid for by grant funds and will replace 100% of the training required under school division employment contracts
during the time teachers participate in the project. Micro-credentialing will also be tied to many of the professional development options available through the CHOICE program allowing for teachers to demonstrate competency in a given skill area.

“In the short term, the participating educators will be better prepared to meet the instructional needs of their students while in-person instruction is limited by COVID-19,” Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. “In the long term, the creation of the Professional Learning by Choice Community will help address statewide and regional shortages of effective teachers for courses that are essential in preparing students for high-demand careers in the STEM fields, including computer science.”
The project will provide instructional coaches and mentors to support teachers through follow-up learning opportunities. They will use a coaching framework designed to integrate baseline data from the self-assessment and then focus on identifying specific practices, implementing those practices, and evaluating the impact of those practices on student learning. CHOICE evaluation results will be used to advance the field of rural education regarding the provision of PD for teachers in high poverty rural
areas. The potential scale and significance of the project offers unparalleled opportunity and is a great investment in the future of rural schools and communities.

“By providing teachers with this opportunity to increase their content knowledge and improve their effectiveness, this initiative will make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Virginia students,” Lane said. “And we will create a platform that can be expanded and impact teaching and learning  statewide. I congratulate Virginia Ed Strategies for its leadership and vision in pursuing this opportunity to improve teaching and learning in the commonwealth.”

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Virginia Ed Strategies is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on partnerships and programs that help ensure a strong K-12 educational system, a prepared future workforce, and a thriving global economy for Virginia. Based in South Boston, Virginia with staff spread across the state, this organization supports the efforts of the Commonwealth’s schools, businesses, and communities as they prepare students for life and careers. More recent signature projects include the Rural Math Excel Partnership and the Rural Math Innovation Network – both funded by United States Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grants to develop innovative models of national significance with potential for large-scale replication.

The Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program is designed to offer opportunities for States, districts, schools, and educators to develop innovations and scale effective practices that address their most pressing challenges. The premise of the EIR program is that new and innovative programs and practices can help to solve the persistent problems in education that prevent students, particularly high need students, from succeeding. If sufficient evidence of program effectiveness can be demonstrated, the intent is for these innovations to be replicated and tested in new populations and settings. EIR is not intended to provide support for practices that are already commonly implemented by educators. EIR is the successor program to the former Investing in Innovation Fund (i3).

Funding for the CHOICE program is the result of an early phase EIR grant prioritizing teacher-directed professional learning. Ninety-percent (90%) of the project budget is covered by the EIR award while the remaining 10%, or just over $1.08 million, will come from matching non-governmental sources. There were 138 early-phase grant applications in FY2020 with only 20 awardees nationwide. The grant Virginia Ed Strategies received is one of just seven teacher-directed professional learning grants awarded.

 

For media queries: Amanda Adams, Director of Innovation & Technology
(703) 596-5620 amanda@vaedstrategies.org