CSUMB receives grant to fund teacher prep program

California State University, Monterey Bay has been chosen to receive a $4.8 million grant to fund a teacher prep program.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership program. Of the total, $2.2 million will go to student scholarships, and the rest will fund the Preparing Observational Practitioners through Partnerships Yearlong (POPPY) and support the university’s partnerships with eight Monterey County school districts

The goal of POPPY is to increase achievement among K -12 students by preparing prospective teachers through curriculum reform, a yearlong clinical residency model and intensive professional development in STEM and literacy fields.

The five goals project POPPY is centered on include:

Teacher recruitment from underrepresented populations and high-need subject areas.
A residency model that includes clinical experience with a mentor teacher and graduate level coursework.
Giving support to new teachers to help with retention and professional learning.
Sustained professional development opportunities around STEM and literacy integration across the curriculum.
Improvement science to engage in continuous improvement throughout the duration of the project.

CSUMB said programs like project POPPY support the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025, a university-wide initiative to make sure all students have the opportunity to be successful and graduate according to their personal goals.

KION 2019