# Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of

# Excellence Program Grants

# FY 2023 New Award Abstracts

**Applicant Name:**Virginia Commonwealth University

**Total Requested: $**1,599,645

**Project Title:**VCU Augustus F. Hawkins Center of Excellence

# Competitive Preference Priorities the Project Addresses:

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 1: Projects that are Designed to Increase and Retain the Number of Well-Prepared Teachers from Diverse Backgrounds

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 2: Increasing the Number of Bilingual and/or Multilingual Teachers with Full Certification

# Total number of teacher candidates served over the 4-year grant period: 160

**Brief project description**: Through the fulfillment of our project objectives, we will train a diverse group of teacher candidates whose demographics align with those of our partner school districts. The wrap- around support we will provide through the Hawkins Center of Excellence at VCU will lead to RTR teacher candidates feeling more supported and entering the teaching workforce with the skills and knowledge they need to serve students in high-needs classrooms. Our program will prepare teacher candidates and RTR alumni to teach multilingual learners and will provide a pathway for bilingual and multilingual adults to become teachers. Finally, fulfillment of our project objectives will lead to RTR alumni receiving the support and

professional development they need to remain in the classroom.

**Summary of project objectives and expected outcomes:**Objective 1: Develop a Hawkins Center of Excellence to recruit and support a diverse pool of teacher candidates,

including bilingual and multilingual teachers, in the RTR teacher residency program. Objective 2: Provide training and development, including a pathway to ESL endorsement, through the Virginia Adult Literacy Resource Center (VALRC) and Multilingual Ambassador Program (MAP) to prepare RTR teacher candidates to support bilingual and multilingual students.

Objective 3: Implement a two-year induction model and alumni network to support and retain a diverse teaching workforce. This proposal addresses the Absolute Priority, projects that are evidence-based, comprehensive teacher preparation programs that provide extensive clinical experience; Competitive Preference Priority 1, projects that are designed to increase and retain the number of well-prepared teachers from diverse backgrounds; and Competitive Preference Priority 2, increasing the number of bilingual and/or multilingual teachers with full certification. **High need local education agencies (LEAs) served by the project:**12 urban and rural school divisions in Virginia

**Applicant Name:**Texas A&M University - San Antonio

**Total Requested:**$ 1,599,937.00

**Project Title: Project:**ASAP: Aspiring Students to Advance Professionally (ASAP) - to teach and serve English learners, parents, and communities

# Competitive Preference Priorities the Project Addresses:

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 1: Projects that are Designed to Increase and Retain the Number of Well-Prepared Teachers from Diverse Backgrounds

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 2: Increasing the Number of Bilingual and/or Multilingual Teachers with Full Certification

# Total number of teacher candidates served over the 4-year grant period: 60

**Brief project description:**To support the early development of the teacher pipeline, particularly focused on future teachers of color, middle and high school students, will participate in the BESITOS organizations. They will be from three ASPIRE Districts, Harlandale ISD, Edgewood ISD, and Southwest ISD that are highly diverse and are need of multilingual teachers.

**Summary of project objectives and expected outcomes:**The proposed project goals are 1) Increase teacher capacity by certifying 60 generalist preservice and paraprofessional teachers in bilingual and/or ESL education 2) Increase 30 in service teacher capacity by completing a micro credential lead to ESL Endorsement 3) Increase teacher capacity of para-professionals’ (pre-service teachers) awareness and motivation to pursue bilingual education certification and/or ESL endorsement 4) Increasing the awareness of 120 middle school and high school professional teaching professions in bilingual and multilingual fields. These goals aim to increase teacher capacity by drawing from several educational institutions that provide opportunities to create a teacher pipeline, in a highly diverse

metropolitan city that includes middle and high school students from our ASPIRE District

Partnership, the Alamo Colleges, and Texas A&M University-San Antonio. There will be 60 preservice teachers, that include paraprofessionals, who will certify as bilingual or ESL teachers.

The grant will also include 30 in-service teachers who will pursue an ESL Micro credential and challenge the ESL certification exam.

# High need local education agencies (LEAs) served by the project:  7 school districts in South Bexar County

**Applicant Name:**Texas Tech University

**Total Requested:**$1,149,297.00

**Project Title:**IBET - Investing in Bilingual Educators in Texas

# Competitive Preference Priorities the Project Addresses:

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 1: Projects that are Designed to Increase and Retain the Number of Well-Prepared Teachers from Diverse Backgrounds

☒ Competitive Preference Priority 2: Increasing the Number of Bilingual and/or Multilingual Teachers with Full Certification

# Total number of teacher candidates served over the 4-year grant period:67

**Brief project description:**Texas Tech University proposes to support bilingual education across Texas urban and rural communities with the certification of Bilingual Certified teacher candidates through Tech Teach Across Texas competency-based online teacher preparation program. There are 1.2 million students in Texas identified English Learner/Emerging/Bilinguals served in Bilingual or ESL Instructional programs. The iBET (Investing in Bilingual Education Teachers) project will promote the bilingual education classroom skills, teaching competencies, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, and support during a year-long clinically intensive teacher preparation model for 67 Bilingual Certified teachers over a three-year grant period.

**Summary of project objectives and expected outcomes:**The iBET Project targets for meeting grant goals include 1) 100% of students participating will complete Bilingual certification, 2) 100% of teacher candidates will engage with families and students and 3) 95% of Bilingual certified teachers stay in the profession past their second year.

**High need local education agencies (LEAs) served by the project:**26 school districts across the state of Texas