Innovative Teacher Prep2Practice Grant Program

PDE has been active in exploring ways to strengthen the role played by clinical experience in teacher preparation. While teacher educators have long recognized that pre-service candidates need to be introduced to the world of practice early in their preparation—including some existing teacher preparation programs that incorporate clinical experience as early as the first year of these programs—the field remains remarkably wedded to an outdated model wherein clinical experience is loaded heavily at the end of the pre-service program in a relatively short capstone clinical experience widely known as student teaching. PDE funded the Innovative Teacher Residency grant program in 2018-19 and 2019-20 which made it possible for preparation programs and their LEA partners to experiment with year-long teacher residency programs that were designed to strengthen the role of practice in pre-service preparation.

While the Innovative Teacher Residency grant program was focused on reforming the capstone (student teaching) clinical experience, PDE also recognizes the need for strengthened early clinical experiences partly as a means of recruiting new talent into the profession. In addition, the Department is interested in strengthened post-graduate clinical experiences which often take the form of induction programs. Induction programs aspire to support novice teachers during their early years partly as a means of retaining talent. Recent regulatory changes to Chapter 49 have expanded what used to be a requirement for a one-year induction period into a two-year induction period.

PDE is pleased to announce the creation of a new grant program designed to stimulate the creation of highly cohesive and innovative clinical experiences for teachers that make explicit connections across the three stages of clinical experience (1) early clinical experiences starting in the first year of a preparation program; (2) a capstone clinical experience, often referred to as a student teaching or residency experience; and (3) a post-graduate clinical experience which often takes the form of an induction program. The goal is to build upon the lessons learned from the A2E pilot as well as from the Innovative Teacher Residency grant program to better integrate the three stages of clinical experience into the broader teacher preparation program.

Types of Grants

Planning grants will be awarded to consortia with EPPs as the lead grantee and are intended to assist EPPs in their efforts to create partnerships with LEAs. Durin the grant period, the partners will plan to integrate the three stages of the clinical experience. The highest dollar amount for a planning grant will be $100,000 and the funds must be expended during the 2022-2023 academic year. Deadline to submit applications is October 7, 2022.

Applications should be completed using the eGrants system. If you need a login for eGrants, please complete Teacher Prep to Practice Grants & Principal Prep to Practice Grants form, and allow one week to receive permission to access the system. Please check the application for guidelines document before you prepare your application.

For More Information

Need Help or Have Questions? Please e-mail RA-EDOPHEGrants@pa.gov