News and Media
Relations contact: Jimmy Hart, 615-898-5131 or Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu
College of Education
contact: Tracey Huddleston, 615-898-5500 or Tracey.Huddleston@mtsu.edu
First to
the Top funds training on Professional Learning Communities
MURFREESBORO — MTSU’s
College of Education is reaching out to area school districts with training
aimed at helping administrators meet the challenges of the state’s First to the
Top initiative to improve student performance.
The university recently hosted a professional development
training session with about 30 administrators from 11 southern Midstate public
school districts to help them establish or improve their own systems’
Professional Learning Communities.
Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, focus on student
learning and results by creating better collaboration and more accountability
for teachers and administrators. Under the direction of President Sidney A.
McPhee and Dean Lana Seivers, the MTSU College of Education has been partnering
with surrounding school districts on a number of school improvement
initiatives, including PLCs.
Dr. Bob Eaker, a professor in the university’s Womack Family
Educational Leadership Department, conducted the March 27 training session in
the McWherter Learning Resources Center. It was recorded by the Center for
Educational Media and will soon be available for other school districts’
training on the center's website, http://www.mtsu.edu/education/cem.php.
Joe T. Wood, the Tennessee liaison for education consultant
Battelle for Kids, attended the training session, which included school
district directors and central office staff. Another daylong training session
for principals is scheduled for May.
Battelle is a national not-for-profit organization that
provides strategic counsel and solutions for school improvement efforts. The
organization has worked with school officials in more than 19 states, including
California, Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and
Texas.
Using First to the Top funds, Battelle for Kids is
coordinating services with school districts through the state Department of
Education’s eight Centers for Regional Excellence (CORE).
The recent training targeted the south central CORE district,
which includes Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis,
Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Perry and Wayne counties and city systems in
Manchester, Tullahoma and Fayetteville.
“MTSU wanted to expand out into the region and support the
districts in the region,” said Wood, a former district director in West
Tennessee. “Our role has been to coordinate these efforts between the districts
and MTSU to make sure that everything was coming together properly.”
Wood emphasized the importance of such training being
available and archived on MTSU’s website so districts throughout the state can
access it at any time.
For more information about the MTSU Center for Educational
Media, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/education/cem.php; for more on the Womack
Family Educational Leadership Department, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/edu_leadership/.
About MTSU
Founded in 1911 as
one of three state normal schools for teacher training, MTSU is now the oldest
and largest public university in Middle Tennessee. With an enrollment of more
than 25,000 students, MTSU is the largest undergraduate university in
Tennessee.
MTSU remains
committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing
atmosphere where student success is the top priority. With a wide variety of
nationally recognized academic degree programs at the baccalaureate, master's
and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest
students from Tennessee and around the world.
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MTSU is committed to
developing a community devoted to learning, growth, and service. We hold these
values dear, and there’s a simple phrase that conveys them: “I am True
Blue.” Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/trueblue.
For MTSU news anytime, visit www.MTSUNews.com.
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