NEW REGIONAL CENTERS TO ASSIST TEACHERS, SCHOOLS

The site is selected, the director appointed, and now the check is in the mail for a Southeast Regional Professional Development Center.

Southeast Missouri State University will receive one of nine $150,000 grants for the center, established to assist public schools in this region. It is situated on Scully Education Building's third floor and should begin offering teacher education programs by September.

Dr. Shirley Stennis-Williams, dean of education and current director of the center, said the grant should have a major impact on this area's 8,000 public school students in 108 districts.

"We thought it would be up and running last August, but because of a legislative matter we all know about we had to wait," she said, referring to the Hancock II Amendment. Had it passed, Hancock II would have dramatically cut education spending.

"If we do things right, this center should play a major role in the educational lives of all teachers and children in this area," Stennis-Williams said.

Awarded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the grants were funded by the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993. Under that legislation, every school district committed 1 percent of its annual budget to professional development programs for teachers. The state matched that money.

Recipients of the start-up grants can apply again next year, but the professional development centers must become self-supporting. Stennis-Williams said Southeast Missouri's public schools are already committed to spending their staff development dollars on the center, so self-sufficiency shouldn't be a problem.

Among the programs to be offered is STARR, which provides on-campus accommodations for outstanding teachers while they educate other teachers.

"We will provide the training teachers need to provide outstanding educations for the children of Southeast Missouri," Stennis-Williams said.

In addition to searching for a new director, Stennis-Williams is coordinating an effort to identify the school districts' needs. An advisory council of teachers, principals and superintendents is helping.

Corporate partners in the project are Procter & Gamble and St. Francis Medical Center. St. Francis is also helping in the needs assessment effort, Stennis-Williams said.

Other recipients of the competitive grants were: University of Missouri-Columbia; Consortium of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, The Learning Exchange, Avila College and the Pan Education Institute; Northeast Missouri State University; Northwest Missouri State University; University of Missouri-Rolla; Southwest Missouri State University; Consortium of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Network for Educational Development and the St. Louis Regional Educational Partnership; and Central Missouri State University.