The Chalkboard Project awarded grants totaling $180,000 to school district and university partnerships that will design innovative models to prepare the next generation of Oregon teachers. In total the grantees serve over a quarter of Oregon’s K-12 students and 65% of teacher candidates annually.

Newberg is partnering with Tillamook, Sherwood and  Woodburn school districts plus Chemeketa Community College, George Fox University and  Pacific University.  Newberg and its partners are interested in exploring collaborative or co-teaching models in which a student teacher and experienced classroom teacher work together to plan lessons and take turns leading instructions. This is different than the traditional model, which places the student teacher as the lead teacher with little to no instructional collaboration with the experienced teacher. The partners also plan to explore model to better prepare STEM educators.


The grants are aimed at addressing a number of issues, including the lack of a diverse teaching force. Currently only 8% of Oregon’s teachers are of minority populations, while 34% of students are of minority populations. Partnerships will also address the placement of student teachers. In most programs there is a lack of coordination between school districts and universities to place student teachers with the most accomplished classroom teachers.

“Teaching in today’s complex world is no simple task. We need a robust pipeline that takes teaching candidates through a rigorous classroom experience, where they get on-the-ground practice and feedback from skilled mentors, and into a job with clear expectations and support. School districts need to take a leadership role in designing these models,” said Sue Hildick, Chalkboard Project President.

TeachOregon expands on Chalkboard’s CLASS Project, which is designed to strengthen effective teaching through new career paths, relevant professional development, effective performance evaluations and new compensation models for educators. 23 districts have participated in the CLASS Project, reaching about 30% of Oregon’s K-12 students.

The TeachOregon partnerships will use the grant funds to develop “blueprints” that address four components: recruitment and selection, classroom experience/clinical practice, hiring and placement, and mentoring and induction of teachers. In order to create these plans, the partnerships will put together design teams made up of teachers, administrators, university professors and program administrations.

Grantees will explore a number of innovative practices to prepare teachers for 21st century classrooms, including:

• Recruitment of more teacher candidates from historically underrepresented groups to support a teaching force that reflects the diversity of the student population.
• Innovative models for clinical experiences that include a quality classroom experience for teacher candidates, including 30+ weeks of residency.
• New models for assessment of teacher candidate performance including impact on student achievement.
• New compensation and tuition models to recruit, reward, and support teacher candidates, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors.
• Expanded career opportunities and roles for clinical practice cooperating teachers, coaches, and university faculty.

Orcilia Zúñiga Forbes, Chalkboard Project Board member stated, “Chalkboard has spent years working on efforts to help ensure that Oregon’s teachers have the tools and support to do their best work for students through the CLASS Project and legislative efforts. Investing in innovative models of teacher preparation is a natural next-step toward making Oregon a great place for teachers and students.”

The grantees will complete design work by spring of 2013. Chalkboard will work with successful partnerships to secure implementation funding for up to $250,000 per project per year for three years.

Read the program description, and program highlights.

TeachOregon was developed as a result of a research and design grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.