$19 `Million Available in USDE Transition to Teaching Grants Program

The United States Department of Education (USDE) has  $19 million available for an estimated 65 grants of $150,000 to $450,000 for national, regional, statewide, and local projects in their Transition to Teaching Grant Program
The Transition to Teaching program supports the recruitment and retention of highly- qualified mid-career professionals, including qualified paraprofessionals, and recent college graduates who have not majored in education to teach in high-need schools and districts through the development of new or enhanced alternative routes to certification.
The program provides five-year grants to state and local educational agencies, or for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, or institutions of higher education collaborating with state or local educational agencies to:

• Recruit and retain highly-qualified mid-career professionals (including highly- qualified paraprofessionals) and recent graduates of IHEs, as teachers in high-need schools, including recruiting teachers through alternative routes to teacher certification
• Encourage the development and expansion of alternative routes to certification under state-approved programs that enable individuals to be eligible for teacher certification within a reduced period of time, relying on the experience, expertise, and academic qualifications of an individual or other factors in lieu of traditional course work.

Grantees develop and implement comprehensive approaches to train, place, and support teacher candidates whom they have recruited into their programs, which must meet relevant State certification or licensing requirements. Grantees then ensure that program participants are placed to teach in high-need schools and districts and that candidates are supported to serve in these placements for at least three years.
The deadline to apply for these grants is March 26, 2007.

More information can be found on the Transition to Teaching Grant Program website.  Additional information can be found in an online PDF file on this program.

The USDE contact person for the Transition to Teaching Grant Program is:

Thelma Leenouts
E-Mail: Thelma.Leenouts@ed.gov

Back to the front page