Congressman Cohen Announces $460,379 for Crichton College
Press Release
Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced that Crichton College received a grant of $460,379 from the Department of Education under the Predominantly Black Institutions and Schools Program. The purpose of this program is to assist institutions of higher education with at least 40% African-American student populations.
"I am very pleased to announce this nearly half-million dollar award for Crichton College," said Congressman Cohen. "Crichton plans to strengthen its ability to produce highly qualified urban educators for Memphis by improving the credentials and resources of its teacher education program, and this federal support will go a long way toward helping them realize their goal."
Crichton College has initiated the Urban Teachers Education Initiative, which will:
* Revise its teacher education curriculum to include field experiences for each year in the student's degree plan,
* Support social and professional networking among education students, and
* Enhance students' skill development in cultural sensitivity and information literacy.
Memphis City Schools, like many large urban school districts, has struggled from low student graduation rates and high teacher turnover rates, often needing to hire as many as 800 new teachers every year. Department of Education research clearly shows that early field experiences and attentive mentoring in an increasingly intensive set of teaching experiences are helpful in new teacher induction and persistence.
"Crichton's central location in Memphis, its diverse student population and its strong history of service toward the City of Memphis makes it an ideal partner in which to invest to train a new generation of homegrown educators to improve our community," said Congressman Cohen. "This program will produce well-trained, well-versed and well-connected young teachers for MCS for years to come, and I applaud both the Department of Education and Crichton College for this innovative initiative."
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