Grants Awarded to the School of Education
In December 2020, CCU's Undergraduate School of Education, in partnership with Best in The World Teachers, was awarded the Daniels Fund Grant. This grant is offered through the Daniels Fund and has been enabling the School of Education to better prepare our teacher candidates for work in the education sector. The School of Education has also received the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Planning Grant to address the critical need for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers.
Daniels Fund Grant
The CCU School of Education, in collaboration with Best in the World Teachers, is working on a reform model for teacher preparation. The School of Education has piloted the implementation of a Community Learning and Intervention Center, to aid teacher candidates and young students in need of academic assistance. Specific features of the Daniels Fund Grant include conducting professional development in partner schools, applying a formal critical thinking model for teacher candidates, developing a clinical practice model (K-12 students on campus and blended learning) in math and literacy methods courses, implementing a coaching model for recent School of Education graduates in their initial teaching position, establishing a K-12 community learning and intervention center, and finally, showing proof of concept through assessment and a research agenda.
For more detailed information on the School of Education's progress throughout the grant, please review the documents below:
- iPREP Conceptual Framework - Spring 2021
- School of Education - Course Clinics
- 2022 Daniels Fund Grant Annual Report
- 2021 Daniels Fund Grant Annual Report
The Center for Teaching and Learning: Tutoring and Intervention Services
A K-12 community and intervention center for students on the Front Range with educational needs.
- Offer instruction and intervention for K-12 students (remote and face-to-face).
- Provide CCU teacher candidates with experience teaching in a clinical setting
- Allow teachers opportunities to learn research-based instructional techniques
Classical Education and Critical Thinking
A classical education approach and critical thinking model for CCU teacher candidates.
- The School of Education has created a model linking the University's strategic priorities with a classical education and critical thinking model.
- Train faculty to implement this model through class content, assignment, and student expectations.
- Our teacher candidates apply this model in their practice as educators.
Professional Development and Support for Graduates and Local Teachers
Providing professional development support and a network for CCU alums, students, and local Colorado teachers.
- Establish and evaluate a community of practice for local educators, CCU partners, and alums.
- Provide professional development support and a network for teachers to connect, offer ideas and solutions, and continue learning how to be the best in their chosen field.
- Create a place for new teachers to seek advice and tips from veteran teachers.
Course-Based Clinics
Creating course-based clinical models that allow teacher candidates to work with students before their field experience.
- Provide teacher candidates with rigorous practice and real-world experience in a clinical model.
- Support mastery of research-based pedagogy in the foundational skills of reading, writing, and mathematics.
- Offer highly structured and monitored activities and provide exemplary preparation for future classroom experiences.
