Counselors connect with ECU College of Education

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Forty-Four high school guidance counselors from Eastern North Carolina gained up-to-date information about East Carolina University and its teacher programs during “Each One-Reach One,” held on campus Feb. 12.

ECU hosted school counselors from across eastern North Carolina this month.

Sponsored by the ECU College of Education, event drew educators from the following school districts: Beaufort, Bertie, Clinton City Schools, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Martin, Nash-Rocky Mount, Pitt, Roanoke Rapids, Sampson, Vance, Wayne, and Wilson. Invitations were issued to each high school within the Latham Clinical Schools Network which comprises 37 counties within eastern North Carolina.

The counselors learned about the processes involved for applying to ECU. The Honors College provided details about its unique opportunity for academically talented students. Attendees also participated in a crash course by the ECU Financial Aid office about changes to application processes at the federal level.

The College of Education shared detailed information about the college’s scholarship opportunities. Teaching faculty from mathematics, science and instructional technology education, as well as special education and middle grades education, spoke about their high-need programs.

Counselors attending the outreach event at ECU learned about the college application process.

The event aimed to assist counselors with information about the college application process, while encouraging them to prompt students to consider education as a career choice. Recruitment packets, along with College of Education scholarship information, were given to each attendee for use back at their high schools.

For more information about recruitment efforts for the College of Education at East Carolina University, contact Laura Bilbro-Berry, assistant director of teacher education, at bilbroberryl@ecu.edu or via phone at 252-328-1123.

Counselors connect with ECU College of Education

Second Century Campaign

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The College of Education, in partnership with East Carolina University, launched the largest campaign in its history– the COE Second Century Campaign.  The College of Education set campaign priorities specific to our projected needs for improved 21st century education.  Our priorities are identified by the following four categories:

  • Scholarships and Student Support
  • Endowed Professorships
  • Faculty Research, Outreach and Professional Development
  • Strategic Initiatives to Support Programs

Your gift will enable the College of Education to offer cutting edge technology, top notch educational programs and support to students to enhance their education.  Gifts will enhance instruction, provide students with diverse, real-world experiences for their prospective careers, and enable the College of Education to attract the strongest candidates possible for our programs.

The College of Education also houses six departments and the Office of Teacher Education.  Each of these departments identified their top priorities based on the categories set by the College.  Please click on the links below to view more specific needs listed by department.

The Department of Business and Information Technologies Education
Department of Counselor and Adult Education
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Department of Educational Leadership
Department of Library Science
Department of Mathematics, Science and Instructional Technology Education
Office of Teacher Education

ECU Senior Receives the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics Outstanding Mathematics Education Student Award

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Greenville, NC – Alan Faulkner, an ECU senior, received the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics Outstanding Mathematics Education Student Award at the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics Awards Breakfast, Koury Convention Center, Greensboro, NC on Friday, October 31, 2008.  Dr. Bampia Bangura, chair of the committee, recognized Alan’s academic excellence and his exceptional service to the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics, teachers of mathematics, and mathematics students in eastern North Carolina. Alan also received a plaque and a check for $100.

Alan will present a plaque recognizing the Department of Mathematics and Science Education as his major department at an upcoming meeting of the ECU chapter of the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  The plaque will be given to Dr. Ron Preston, Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Science Education in the College of Education at the Wednesday department meeting at 5:00 in Flanagan 352.

NC QUEST Grant Offers Training

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East Carolina University’s College of Education has been awarded a $210,827 grant that will offer professional development opportunities to math and science teachers who work in low-income school districts.

The grant from NC QUEST (Quality Educators through Staff Development and Training across North Carolina) was awarded through the UNC Division of University-School Programs and the Center for School Leadership Development. Funding for the “Rural Initiative in Math and Science” project came from federal resources designed to promote initiatives of the national No Child Left Behind Act.

ECU will offer training to 30 middle and high school instructors in Bertie, Lenoir and Hertford counties. On-going professional development options will include tuition for university courses, six hours of content and pedagogy meetings, materials and on-site coaching. Members of the ECU College of Education’s Rural Education Institute and the Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, ECU’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Science, the ECU’s Department of Biology worked with these county school systems to submit the grant proposal.

ECU was one of four new partnerships to receive funding, along with UNC-Wilmington, Western Carolina and Winston-Salem State universities. Appalachian, Fayetteville State and UNC-Greensboro universities also received grants to continue comparable projects. Awards were based on evaluations by a national review panel.

ECU College of Education Expands Rural “Revitalise” Project

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Revitalise - Expanding the Scope of Teaching and Learning

East Carolina University’s College of Education will receive $400,000 to continue an innovative technology initiative designed to address the issues of retention and renewal of teachers in rural communities.

The REVITALISE program (Rural Educators using Visualization to Inspire Teacher Advancement and Learning to Improve Science and Mathematics Education) is a joint effort between ECU and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois to help teachers integrate cutting-edge technologies into the curriculum and expand the scope of science and mathematics education in small-town middle and high schools.

Launched in 2002, the initial four-year, $1.4 million program was funded partly by the National Science Foundation, Microsoft Corporation and Advanced Visual Systems.

The program leverages advanced videoconferencing and communications capabilities so that educators in the two states are able to communicate with each other to form virtual learning communities and establish support systems to enhance teacher and student learning. The technology features enable group-to-group interactions with multimedia capabilities within an interactive environment over a high-speed network.

To date, 50 educators have participated in the program for the professional development and support. Many of these former participants, like Angela Becton of Kinston, will return as mentors for the next group.

“As an adult learner, REVITALISE has helped me create relationships with professionals and colleagues that I would not have otherwise, which helps reduce the isolation that can sometimes drive teachers from education,” said Becton, a teacher instructional support specialist with Johnston County Schools.

According to Robin Rider, ECU science and mathematics education professor and project director, REVITALISE is a win-win situation for the students, teachers and their communities. “Communities with teachers involved in this project benefit from expanded knowledge of visualization techniques which the teachers take back to classrooms to enable them to educate students for careers in the 21st century,” Rider said.

There is no cost to teachers, schools or school districts for participating. At completion, teachers receive software to take back to their classroom and a stipend.

“This second cohort of participants represents an even larger contingent of technologically competent teachers in math and science who will make a difference in the learning of their students in the eastern part of the State,” said Marilyn Sheerer, Dean of ECU’s college of education and principal investigator.

This year’s program will kick off with a four-day workshop beginning February 24 involving 54 educators from Camden, Onslow, Chowan, Wayne, Nash-Rocky Mount, Bertie, Pitt and Wilson counties in North Carolina and the following Illinois school districts: Dakota, Dwight, Rankin, Gillespie, Roxana, Somonauk, Unity Point, Lake City, Wayne City, and Pikeland.

National Science Foundation Team Evaluates NC-PIMS Grant at ECU

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Greenville, NC – The National Science Foundation (NSF) Team is visiting East Carolina University this week to evaluate the management of the North Carolina Partnership for Improving Mathematics and Science (NC-PIMS) Grant.  They arrived on campus Wednesday, June, 15th and will be in Greenville through Friday, June, 17th.  The NSF team began their visit by listening to a presentation from the grant management team.  Members of ECU’s higher education community including Marilyn Sheerer, dean for ECU’s College of Education; Molly Broad, President of the UNC System; and district superintendents were also present. Wednesday afternoon, faculty at other sites involved with the project met with the NSF team via video-conference.

The NSF team is meeting again on Thursday, June, 16th at J.H.  Rose High  School to observe NC-PIMS Lead Teacher classes. They will meet lead teachers, facilitators and other district members of the project afterwards. Feature presentations will be given by the math team and grant operators Thursday afternoon.

The NC-PIMS grant was established to increase mathematics achievement while decreasing achievement gaps in Eastern North Carolina school districts.  NC-PIMS does this through school leadership, professional teacher development, student encouragement and parental involvement.  A partnership among several institutions was formed to accomplish these goals.  They include: The University of North Carolina General Administration, NC Department of Public Instruction, NC Mathematics and Science Education Network, East Carolina University, Fayetteville State University, UNC Pembroke, UNC Wilmington and the NC Community College System.

NC-PIMS brings schools, universities and community leaders together to form leadership teams.  These teams are in partner districts as well three Regional Leadership Teams in 17 counties across Eastern North Carolina.  The teams work together to align resources that will support student achievement in mathematics.

NC-PIMS provides professional development to teachers through structured workshops and courses.  University faculty design and teach graduate-level classes. Teachers selected from various districts are designated as “Lead Teachers”.  The Lead Teachers receive training for workshops they will teach to teacher-colleagues in their home schools.  The workshops are designed by facilitators with NC-PIMS to aid teachers with tools to increase student achievement.  The facilitators continue to support Lead Teachers throughout the school year and summer.

The NC-PIMS partnership also focuses on parent involvement.   In addition to teacher training, the grant also provides workshops for parents to learn how to engage their students in mathematics at home.

For more information, contact Dr. Ron Preston, Mathematics and Science Education Chair, at 252-328-9353 or Jessica W. Davenport, Director of Communications, College of Education at 252-328-2179.