University Relations 202 Eielson Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7520
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NATIVE ALASKA TEACHING PROGRAM GETS
FEDERAL GRANT TO EXPAND
STATEWIDE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 1998
Fairbanks , Alaska - A federal three-year grant has been awarded to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help the institution meet its goal of increasing the number of Native Alaskan educators in the state.
Roger A. Norris-Tull, an assistant professor of education at UAF's Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham, will serve as project director and training coordinator for the program. Using a first-year $350,000 installment on the U.S. Department of Education grant, Norris-Tull will oversee expansion of projects currently underway through the University of Alaska Rural Educator Preparation Partnership program.
The REPP Center was established at UAF in 1996 to address the state's critical shortage of Native teachers. REPP statewide director John E. Anttonen was hired to follow through on recommendations made to the university by a committee appointed by UA President Jerome Komisar and UAF Chancellor Joan Wadlow.
The volunteer group of five university members and nine public members developed recommendations in four areas: improved access to UA programs preparing educators for work in rural Alaska, improved assistance with in-service needs for rural school districts, the UA response to alternative routes to teacher licensing, and a process for continued oversight of the group's goals. Anttonen was hired to provide the oversight the committee recommended.
"The system is out of balance when only one percent of the teachers in our classrooms are Native and 99 percent of the students are Native," said Anttonen.
The current REPP project consists of three programs in two geographical areas: the Kuskokwim and the North Slope regions. Future grant installments will expand programs to include all of rural Alaska.
One of the three current programs develops educational modules for training REPP interns in the process of earning Alaska Type A teaching licenses. The second provides advanced training, and the third program creates Future Native Teachers of Alaska clubs at local schools.
Norris-Tull is coordinating efforts with faculty from UAF and the Ilisagivk College in Barrow. Other partners include school district personnel and REPP candidates. According to Norris-Tull, modern technology will support the design and delivery of training while at the same time provide research opportunities on the effectiveness of human and technological resources to recruit, train and retain Alaska Native teachers.
CONTACT:
REPP Project Director and Training Coordinator Roger A. Norris-Tull
(907) 852-5109, by email: rfran@uaf.edu
OR:
REPP Director John E. Anttonen (907) 474-5589, by email : ffjea@uaf.edu
UAF NEWS RELEASES AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY AT:
http://www.uaf.edu/univrel/media/index.html
IS/DPD/3-24-98/98-043
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