[EDLING:1248] CFP: TEACHER-to-TEACHER INITIATIVE

[Francis M. Hult]

U.S. Department of Education
TEACHER-to-TEACHER INITIATIVE
News for Teachers: Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps

http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4271

Call for Trainers in Foreign Language and Mandarin Chinese

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education announced the formation of the 
Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps. The corps consists of effective teachers 
and practitioners who provide on-site technical assistance and regional 
workshops for teachers and school districts. This team is an expansion of the 
popular Teacher-to-Teacher Workshops that have been offered in cities across 
the nation for the past two summers.

The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is interested in expanding the number of 
foreign language trainers in the corps, particularly in Mandarin Chinese.  We 
are looking for teachers and school leaders who use scientifically based 
research strategies and who have data to demonstrate effectiveness.  Topics 
could include areas of high interest to all foreign language educators 
including classroom technology, student oral and written proficiency, language 
instruction across the curriculum and standards-based instruction, as well as 
topics that specifically address teaching elementary and secondary students of 
Mandarin Chinese.

Trainers will share the research underlying these practices and their 
experience with implementing them in classrooms and schools.  The goal of the 
Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps is to support district level professional 
development efforts by providing demonstrations by expert teacher and 
administrators of ways to improve student academic performance through 
increased content knowledge and improved pedagogical skill. Participants 
should leave sessions with ready-to-use strategies and an understanding of why 
and when those strategies are effective.

Members of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps are eligible to participate 
in workshops for teachers during 2006.  They are also eligible to make 
presentations at the Department’s summer workshops in 2006 and special 
workshops focusing on foreign language and Mandarin Chinese.

The members of the corps support participants through e-mail mentoring, e-
Learning presentations, webcasts and follow-up visits, some of which have 
already begun with the Teacher-to-Teacher workshop providers.

To apply for this corps, you must submit a complete proposal, which should 
include your PowerPoint presentation and handouts.  In order to be considered 
for the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps, your proposal must be received by 
March 17, 2006.  Please visit our Web site at 
http://www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative for additional information about 
submitting your presentation.

If you are selected, the U.S. Department of Education will provide travel, 
accommodations, and a $1,000 honorarium for planning, preparation and 
participation for each training event. You will have the flexibility to 
determine the level of your participation in workshops during 2006.  Two 
workshops focusing on Mandarin Chinese are being planned for July.

GUIDELINES

We are looking for presenters who weave content and pedagogy together.

Each presentation should include relevant research.

Each presentation should include evidence that your work has made a difference 
in student achievement.

Each presentation should be interactive and use principles of adult learning.

Each presentation should be 90 minutes long; however, you may be asked to 
adapt it to fit the needs of a district.

If you work directly with students, you must be highly qualified according to 
your state’s definition in order to participate.Please include proof of this 
with your application, as well as information about which foreign languages 
you instruct.

All presenters will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education. 

More information on the Department’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is posted 
on the Web at  
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/about/information.html. You 
may also wish to view workshop sessions from our e-Learning at 
http://www.paec.org/teacher2teacher/.  Forward any questions to 
teacherquality at westat.com or call (888) 831-1338.

Please indicate the topic, language, and grade level(s) for your presentation. 

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More information about the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher 
Initiative is available at our Web site: 
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/about/information.html.