MGA To Build A “Grow-Your-Own” Classroom Teacher Initiative With Major Grant

Author: Sheron Smith
Posted: Monday, February 3, 2025 12:00 AM
Categories: School of Education and Behavioral Sciences | Students | Honors/Awards | Pressroom | Faculty/Staff

Macon, GA

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With a newly announced grant of more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership program, Middle Georgia State University (MGA) will build an initiative that identifies middle- and high-school students who show potential of becoming great K-12 teachers, nurture them as they study teacher education at the University, then support them as they begin their careers in school districts around the region.

The $1,025,000 grant is part of a program called Project DEAL – Developing Educators and Leaders. MGA received the grant as part of its close partnership with Georgia State University in Atlanta.

“We are beyond grateful for this grant, which is going to tremendously benefit the communities MGA serves, particularly those in rural areas that sometimes struggle to attract the educator workforce they need,” said Dr. David Biek, dean of MGA’s School of Education & Behavioral Sciences. “The funding will help us enhance support and enrichment for students who want to enter the teaching profession. It will allow MGA’s education faculty to partner in deeper ways with school districts in our region.”

Project DEAL aims to increase the number of highly qualified teachers in high-need content areas committed to rural and urban schools and equipped with knowledge that contributes to long-term retention in the educational field. The Project’s pipeline begins with supporting Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) programs for high school students who have chosen teacher preparation pathways.

These programs expose high school students to the teaching profession, including what it takes to become a teacher and authentic teaching opportunities. The project supports the development of pre-baccalaureate teachers who will participate in a yearlong student teaching experience in the system they will work in once they receive their teacher certification. At all levels of teacher preparation, the program emphasizes the value of cultural competency and social-emotional wellbeing of the educator workforce and the members of school communities.

Ultimately, Project DEAL is poised to improve the impact of the educational system in the region’s school districts significantly. It will provide support services for the educational development of hundreds of pre-baccalaureate students and CTAE students who are enthusiastic about teacher education. 

Biek said the grant will help MGA fund the project over a five-year period. Funding will be used to create and support teacher education pipeline development from middle school through the early years of entry into the teaching profession.

“The University System of Georgia goal of ‘creating a more educated Georgia’ is consistent with the aims of this grant funding,” Biek said, “as is Middle Georgia State University’s mission to ‘educate and graduate inspired, lifelong learners whose scholarship and careers enhance the region and the state.’”

This is the second federal education grant worth at least $1 million that has been awarded to MGA’s Department of Teacher & Social Work – part of the School of Education & Behavioral Sciences - since 2019.