Debbie Barnes and Shawn Key of UCA’s College of Education received a $8,990 grant from the Arkansas Department of Education for a high school redesign collaboration project that is part of UCA’s Educational Renewal Zone initiative.
The UCA researchers will work with teachers in the Osceola, South Mississippi County, and Turrell School Districts, as well as with the Crowley’s Ridge Education Service Cooperative (CRESC). The intent of this project is to undertake a multi-district approach that will strengthen the districts’ Curriculum-Instruction-Assessment (CIA) alignment.
“In order to fully develop their curriculum document, partnering schools need assistance with identifying rigorous, relevant instructional strategies that lend themselves to practical, pragmatic situations teachers encounter in the classroom,” according to Barnes and Key. “Accordingly, partnering districts, representatives from the CRESC, and representatives from UCA will work together toward the goal of empowering teachers with the knowledge necessary to implement instructional strategies that work to develop literacy in the disciplines.”