$300K in Scholarships Headed to N.C. A&T’s CEd Through Tom Joyner Foundation Partnership

Greensboro, N.C. (July 21, 2017) The College of Education (CEd) at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has partnered with the Tom Joyner Foundation Inc. through the Tom Joyner Teacher Quality Initiative (TQI). The partnership, valued at $300,000 will provide 50 scholarships for individuals with bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to pursue a Master of Arts in teaching at North Carolina A&T.

This award will increase the number of highly qualified STEM high school teachers produced for public schools in Alamance-Burlington Schools, Davidson County Schools, Guilford County Schools, and Randolph County Schools.

“Faculty and staff in the College of Education are extremely excited about our partnership with the Tom Joyner Foundation as it provides funding for prospective graduate candidates who want to teach STEM content in our public schools in the Piedmont Triad area,” said Dr. Anthony Graham, dean of the College of Education.

TQI is a collaborative partnership with historically black colleges and universities to help remove the barriers for individuals striving to obtain their initial teaching certification. The partnership with N.C. A&T initiates a new approach for this initiative as it focuses intentionally on producing classroom teachers with master’s degrees who have strong content knowledge, enhanced cultural competence, and diverse teaching skills; whereas, in years past TQI placed a strong emphasis on helping HBCU students obtain undergraduate degrees.

“This award will provide scholarship funds to highly-qualified graduate candidates who pursue Master of Arts in Teaching STEM for high-need schools in our immediate community who truly desire to positively impact student learning. As a college, we are committed to equity, access, and advocacy as we strive to prepare teacher leaders who will produce career and college-ready high school students,” adds Graham.

In 2016, CEd was awarded a $3.6 million grant to increase the number of highly qualified teachers produced for high-need K-12 public schools in rural communities.

The TQI initiative coupled with A&T's rural residency program, provides CEd the necessary funding to strengthen its capacity and quality of STEM-oriented graduate degree programs, the ability to credential highly-qualified teachers for rural areas and the number of overall graduate student enrollment.

The College of Education at North Carolina A&T State University offers the MAT degree in 13 disciplines, among them biology, chemistry, mathematics and technology education.

Recent college graduates, current lateral entry STEM teachers, paraprofessionals, and individuals who may be interested in changing their current career are encouraged to contact the College of Education to learn more about this partnership at collegeofed@ncat.edu or call 336-334-7757.