Master’s degree in Education with 90% tuition funding

Supporting Educators’ Academic Literacies and Enhanced Discourse (SEALED)

The University of Miami (UM) along with partner Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) propose to work together to support teachers and improve K-12 student learning in schools serving high-needs populations (H-NPs; defined as culturally and linguistically diverse and/or Special Education students) in inclusive, regular, or special education secondary classrooms. The Supporting Educators’ Academic Literacies and Enhanced Discourse (SEALED) Project addresses:

  • Absolute Priority 1: Supporting effective teachers in schools with high concentrations of high-needs students: b) Providing professional development activities to current teachers that will improve pedagogy or content knowledge; and c) Providing professional enhancement activities to teachers, which may include activities that lead to an advanced credential.
  • Competitive Preference Priority 1: Promoting Diversity in the Educator Workforce: a) Providing educator development activities designed to improve cultural competency and responsiveness skills that contribute to an inclusive school culture; and b) Improving the recruitment, support, and retention of educators from diverse backgrounds.
  • Competitive Preference Priority 2: Support for Personalized Learning Environments: Improving teachers’ college and career ready strategies to: a) systematically use student data to inform instructional decisions; and b) increasing students’ engagement, voice, and choice in their learning

From 2002-2007 UM and M-DCPS collaborated to implement an Applied Graduate Education (AGE) model of professional development which included job-embedded support to practicing teachers enrolled in a Reading/ESOL M.S. Ed. program. The SEALED Project builds on this established partnership to include a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the AGE model, and incorporates two interventions demonstrating Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness as defined by the What Works Clearinghouse for increased engagement (Allen, Pianta, Gregory, Mikami, & Lun, 2011) and for academic literacy instruction (Lesaux, Kieffer, Faller, & Kelly, 2010; Lesaux, Kieffer, Kelley, & Harris, 2014).

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Goals:

SEALED aims to increase:

  1. the number of diverse and highly qualified teachers serving H-NPs in high-needs secondary schools to improve academic achievement and engagement in school and community;
  2. teachers’ knowledge and use of targeted instructional practices for HNPS; and
  3. to support and enhance teachers’ facilitation of their H NPs’ engagement with school and community.

Outcomes:

  1. Recruit 120 practicing teachers (60/cohort during Years 1 and 2) in targeted schools to enroll in UM’s Education and Social Change, TESOL, or Special Education M.S. Ed. programs;
  2. Provide job-embedded supports to 60 randomly selected participating teachers (30 per cohort) to empirically investigate M.S. Ed. programs as teacher professional development;
  3. Improve teachers’ knowledge and practices of reading/academic literacy instruction for HNPs, emphasizing data-driven, culturally responsive, and problem-based learning driven by the Florida Standards;
  4. Improve H NPs’ academic achievement and engagement in school and community;
  5. Better understand the obstacles and affordances of teacher-H-NP engagement practices;
  6. Quasi-experimental study of M.S. Ed. degree programs.

Contact:

Dr. Mary A. Avalos, Project Director/PI, University of Miami, Teaching and Learning Department, P. O. Box 248065, Coral Gables, FL 33124; 305-284-6467, mavalos@miami.edu

Supporting Educators’ Academic Literacies and Enhanced Discourse (SEALED)

The University of Miami (UM) along with partner Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) propose to work together to support teachers and improve K-12 student learning in schools serving high-needs populations in inclusive, regular, or special education secondary classrooms.