MSU receives funding of $1,485,000
Midwestern State University and the West College of Education have received funding in the amount of $1,485,000 from the U. S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, for Project BOW (Bilingual Opportunity Window.) The focus of the program is to improve teacher education programs in order to better prepare all teachers to provide effective instruction to English language learners.
The grant includes the following goals:
- To recruit, identify, select, and retain program participants to prepare for a career as bilingual education teachers.
- To provide training experiences which result in expanded capacity for Bilingual/ESL teachers in the Region 9 Educational Service Center geographical area.
- To enhance Spanish and English verbal, reading and writing skills of BOW program participants.
- To employ technology as an essential tool in the delivery of Bilingual/ESL instructional and training activities for BOW Project participants, Region 9 service area staff, and ELL students.
The Project BOW proposal was approved and funded for a period of five years. Each of the five years is funded at the level of $297,000.00. The U.S. Department of Education is funding 100 percent of the project.
Midwestern State University will be collaborating with the Wichita Falls ISD and the Region 9 Educational Service Center in the immediate implementation of the grant
Dr Grant Simpson, Dean of the West College of Education, responding to the grant award said, "We are very excited about this wonderful opportunity. The goals and objectives of Project BOW are congruent with Texas' efforts to close the gaps in bringing many more students into college, especially from the Hispanic community. Project BOW will support many recruitment activities throughout our region, as well as provide for individual scholarships and offer large scale professional development opportunities for teachers throughout North Texas".