SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- 09/04/07 --
Western Governors University (
http://www.wgu.edu/ruraleducators) is working to increase the national
pool of highly qualified
rural
teachers, particularly with the nationwide shortage of
math and science teachers. WGU
is offering $ 7,500 scholarships to qualified individuals in rural areas.
Prospective recipients are those who reside in rural areas who want to
become licensed teachers in math or science, or existing teachers who live
in rural areas and want to earn a master's degree in math or science
education. The
scholarships for
teachers are part of a U.S. Department of Labor grant recently awarded
to WGU.
The $ 7,500 rural teacher
scholarship will be credited to the recipient's scholarship account in
the amount of $ 1,500 per six-month term, renewable up to five terms. The
grant project includes working with various state workforce services
offices and local rural school districts to identify and prepare potential
rural teacher candidates. The grant will allow WGU to provide financial,
academic, and clinical support for teacher candidates, including the
scholarships for qualified students.
WGU's unique mission is to expand access to higher education through its
online competency-based degree programs. Because the degrees are offered
via the Internet, they are accessible to those living in rural areas who
cannot travel long distances to participate in classes at traditional
campuses. The competency-based programs focus on measuring what students
know and can do, rather than measuring time or credit hours, and allow
working adults that have competencies, for example in math and science, to
complete their programs more quickly but without compromising the quality
of graduates.
The WGU Teachers College is only four years old, but already has more than
4,700 students, including 1,050 students in math and science teacher
education, making WGU one of the largest providers of math and science
teacher education in the nation. The WGU Teachers College is the only
online teacher education program to be accredited by the National Council
for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
In addition, the Teachers College has already graduated more than 1,325
teachers, and its graduates have become licensed teachers in nearly every
state.
WGU President Dr. Robert Mendenhall says, "This initiative is crucial to
filling the high-need teacher shortages in rural school districts,
including retaining teachers in those communities. The quality of teachers
is the single most important variable in the quality of education that we
provide our youth."
Ken Sorber, Vice-President of Strategic Relations at WGU, quoted in an
article in e-School News in February, says, "One of the biggest issues is
that many rural districts don't have convenient access to an accredited
teachers college. If you get very remote, and you are talking about areas
where it's hours away to go to a college, typically you'll find fewer
highly qualified [teachers] in math and science."
As part of the grant, WGU also is working to develop and disseminate a new
model for addressing workforce development of rural teachers that can be
implemented on a national scale. WGU is partnering with the American
Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) in the implementation
and evaluation of this rural teacher initiative.
More information is available at www.wgu.edu/ruraleducators, or call WGU
toll free at 1-866-225-5948.
About Western Governors University (WGU)
WGU is the only accredited university in the U.S. offering online
competency-based degree programs. The private non-profit university was
founded and is supported by 19 governors, as well as more than 20 leading
corporations and foundations, such as Oracle, Thomson Corporation, Marriot
Foundation, Convergys and AT&T. WGU offers bachelor's and master's degrees
in business, information technology, teacher education and healthcare, with
students in all 50 states and 10 foreign countries. More information is
available at www.wgu.edu.
Contact:
Gwen Castaldi
Director of Public Relations
801-290-3600
gcastaldi@wgu.edu
