Education Faculty Secures Grant for Developing Leadership in Future Educators
The grant-writing team and college leaders who met with Kelly Ramirez (center), Kern Foundation program director, are (from left) Dr. Annette Hux, professor of educational leadership and department chair; Dr. Beverly Gilbert, professor of teacher education and grant principal investigator; Dr. Amany Saleh, professor of curriculum and instruction; Dr. Jackie McBride, professor of education; Dr. Rob Williams, associate professor of education and co-PI; and Dr. Mary Jane Bradley, dean.
JONESBORO – A team of educators at Arkansas State University is working to enhance curriculum for developing future educators’ leadership ability, with long-term goals that will benefit their students.
The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Family Foundation Inc. awarded the College of Education and Behavioral Science a $300,000 grant to support the program development over a 22-month period.
“The Department of Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Special Education (ELCSE) was selected for this award because of the large number of school leaders and administrators prepared through the principalship, curriculum and superintendent degree programs at A-State and because of the potential for impact,” explained Dr. Beverly Boals, professor of teacher education and the project’s principal investigator (PI). “Character-centered leadership is the focus of the grant and the project.”
With support from the grant, the Department of Educational Leadership, Curriculum, and Special Education (ELCSE) faculty will embed character formation into the educational leadership curriculum for prospective school leaders, preparing them to influence change as they focus on relevant character qualities and virtues for their school communities.
“The ultimate goal is to increase student success and performance in all areas of academic achievement, growth and development,” she emphasized.
Gilbert said the faculty will be assisted by the Jubilee Centre, which defines character “as a set of positive personal traits, dispositions, and values that inform pupils’ motivation and guides their conduct so that they reflect wisely, learn eagerly, behave with integrity, and cooperate consistently well with others.” The Jubilee Centre is known among professional educators for its character research and programs.
The online degree programs involved are the Master of Science in Education (MSE) in educational leadership; Master of Science in Education (MSE) in curriculum and instruction; Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in educational leadership; and Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in education leadership.
To increase their understanding of character and its application within K-12 education, faculty will participate in studies and discussions designed to prepare them for making course revisions that will center character in the training of future school leaders.
“We expect the redesigned programs will reach at least 500 students annually, and we plan to host a summer institute in the second year of the project, designed to assist approximately 10 teams of school leaders from surrounding districts to bring a more intentional focus to character formation in their schools,” Boals added.
