Deal announces third round winners for Innovation in Teaching
Gov. Nathan Deal today announced seven winners in Round Three of the Innovation in Teaching Competition, a recognition and reward opportunity for teachers who demonstrate innovative teaching strategies for the Georgia standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The competition is available through Georgia’s Innovation Fund, a competitive grant program.
Each teacher will receive a $2,000 stipend, and each teacher’s school will receive a $5,000 grant for implementation of Georgia’s instructional standards. In addition, Georgia Public Broadcasting will film the winning educators teaching in their classrooms during winter and spring 2014, as well as interview them about how they prepared the featured units. The videos, along with the educators’ supplementary materials, will be made available to other educators, parents, institutions of higher education and other stakeholders through the state’s longitudinal data system and other media.
Deal will announce Round Four of the Innovation in Teaching Competition this spring.
The seven winners in Round Three, along with the grade level and subject area of each winning unit, are listed below:
Round One winners included Charles Trader (St. Mary’s Middle School in Camden County), Amanda Cavin (Unity Grove Elementary School in Henry County), and Sarah Welch (Fannin County High School). Round Two winners included Deborah Goodman (Shallowford Falls Elementary School in Cobb County), and Tara Dougherty (Kingsley Charter Elementary School in DeKalb County).
Principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, district staff representing schools around the state, as well as GaDOE Teacher and Leader Effectiveness, School Improvement and Curriculum staff, nominated teachers for Round Three of the Innovation in Teaching Competition this winter. Based on those nominations, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) invited select teachers to submit a unit plan demonstrating innovative and effective strategies to teach reading, English language arts and/or mathematics and a two-minute video describing their qualifications for the prize.
About Georgia’s Innovation Fund
Administered by GOSA, the Innovation Fund is a $19.4 million competitive grant opportunity created through Georgia’s Race to the Top plan. The state will use the Innovation Fund to determine best practices in innovative programming related to STEM education, applied learning and teacher and leader recruitment and development to influence future education policy efforts. GOSA has awarded $17.9 million to 23 different projects in three grant cycles. Gov. Deal has proposed adding $5 million in state funds to the Innovation Fund to continue this work. The state will also seek contributions from philanthropic organizations, nonprofits and businesses as a continuing source of start-up capital for promising innovations. More information about the Innovation Fund can be found on the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement website.