A big boost for Winthrop

Federal grant gives Winthrop the means to transform its teacher program.

The $7 million federal grant recently awarded to Winthrop University could not only transform the university's teacher training program but also the quality of education for a large segment of the state.

The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education is the largest government award in the school's 124-year history, and it will have an immediate and long-lasting impact on the way Winthrop prepares future teachers for the classroom. It also entails a partnership with five school districts in counties with high poverty rates � Chester, Lancaster, Cherokee, Fairfield and Union � designed to improve teacher quality and boost student achievement in targeted schools.

The first infusion of federal money � about $1.4 million � will come this year. Officials with Winthrop's Richard W. Riley College of Education will begin immediately to make curriculum changes.

One change, for example, will lengthen internships where students work in schools from a single semester to an entire year. There also will be a new focus on training future teachers to educate students who speak little English and students with disabilities. Winthrop also will create professional development schools in Chester and Lancaster counties as centers for teacher training.

The university and participating school districts also will partner to tackle problems facing struggling schools. College students and teachers from both Winthrop and the schools will team up to pool ideas and work to improve school performance. The university and its partner districts also will share resources and act as mentors and trainers for each other.

Winthrop, the only school in the state chosen to participate in this program, was born as an institution to train teachers, and that always has been a significant part of its mission. This grant should help spur a new era in teacher training for Winthrop.

As Jennie Rakestraw, dean of the College of Education, put it: �What we're doing now is well above average. This is going to take us to new levels.�

Congratulations to Winthrop on this distinct honor. It is well deserved.