PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (November 29, 2022) — Dr. Beverly Sande, PhD., assistant professor in the department of curriculum and instruction at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), was awarded a total of $12,200,000 by the United States Department of Education for her program, “Leading Equity Across Diverse Environments with Revolutionary Synergy (LEADERS).”
Beverly Sande, PhD
The total funding is a one-to-one cost-sharing model where the USDoE grant provides $6,100,000 and the additional $6,100,000 is supplied by the awardees themselves.
“The partnership will allow LEADERS to directly serve 260 diverse teacher residents and leaders, 211,621 P12 students, and 5 large school districts, of which 85% are Title I schools,” said Sande.
The LEADERS Team includes project partners from multiple departments and institutions. Dr. Ronald Goodwin, PhD., program coordinator and associate professor of history at PVAMU; Dr. Patricia Miller, PhD., associate professor in the College of Education at PVAMU; and, Gwendolyn Web-Hasan, PhD., associate professor in the departments of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University (TAMU).
The LEADERS project is an extension of the partners’ current work to develop, support, and scale educator preparation programs focused on meeting the needs of underserved students.
Patricia Hoffman-Miller, PhD
For the LEADERS project, residencies for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs will be delivered at PVAMU for their students, while PVAMU and TAMU will work across institutions to deliver a residency for students in our principalship programs.
Year one of our LEADERS project will involve ramp-up activities, years two through four the cohorts will be rolled out, and year five is the culmination of our efforts to ensure sustainability alongside our school district partners — Brenham Independent School District (ISD), Dallas ISD, Hempstead ISD, Houston ISD, and Sheldon ISD.
Patricia Hoffman-Miller, PhD
“PVAMU will use this grant to design its new Leading Equity Across Diverse Environments with Revolutionary Synergy (LEADERS) initiative to enhance and strategically target high-needs districts,” said Magesh Rajan, vice president of Research & Innovation. “It will prepare highly qualified teachers and leaders capable of supporting the academic, social, and emotional needs of children and youth in grades K-12.”
The goal of this program is to increase the number of effective and diverse teacher residents and school leaders for high-need schools, grade spans, and subjects; enhance the quality of new teacher residency programs by engaging them in a culturally sustaining residency; build capacity and ensure the sustainability among the partners to fully implement, execute, and sustain their residency programs after the grant period ends; and advance the field by conducting a rigorous evaluation and disseminate findings to improve knowledge and understanding of systems, structures, and processes necessary to authentically scale and sustain residency programs for teachers and school leaders in high-need areas.
Gwendolyn Web-Hasan, PhD.
“The college has always been a noted leader in the state of Texas in producing teachers and leaders for high-need districts,” said Dr. Michael McFrazier, Dean of the College of Education at PVAMU. “Further, our collaboration with Texas A&M University contributes to Chancellor Sharp’s vision for a multifaceted partnership between TAMU and PVAMU.”