St. Cloud State University will use a grant to tweak how teachers are trained

St. Cloud State University (SCSU) was granted $4.5 million and said it will be used to change how potential teachers are trained. The plan of action hasn't been determined yet but the University is asking four Central Minnesota school districts to help design the best method of training that will be implemented over the next 10 years.

"SCSU graduates 350 potential teachers a year but the goal is to train and employ 25,000 new teachers in 10 years through the program," said Susan Heegaard, vice president and educational achievement and team leader for the Bush Foundation in St. Paul. When the project is done, it is expected that Central Minnesota school districts will be more involved when teachers are still in college and then SCSU will be more involved when teachers graduate and start work.

The grant is all part of the $40 million Bush Foundation program that includes 14 Universities in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. It is estimated that up to 17 Central MN school districts could be a part of the program. "The success of the program depends on partnerships. The University cannot do it alone," said Becky Krystynink, associate professor who is serving as co-director of what is called the Teacher Preperation Initiative.

The first batch of potential teachers that will enter the program will be the year of 2012 and will graduate in 2016. Other universities may enroll students earlier, some later.