Federal Grant to Help New Teachers
Bridge the Digital Divide in Michigan Schools
October 1, 2001

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Contact: Reuben Rubio

Michigan colleges and universities resumed classes this fall ready to help a new generation of teachers close the “digital divide”, the growing gap between young people who have ready access to computers and those who do not. Thanks to a $2.2 million federal grant from the Department of Education, the 16 institutions that comprise the Consortium for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology (COATT) will implement an ambitious program aimed at giving Michigan’s K-12 schools the best trained teachers in the nation when it comes to using computer-related technology to help students learn.

Spring Arbor University’s Assistant Dean of Education Reuben Rubio, who will direct the grant, sees the award as a key step in helping Michigan schools usher in a new era of teaching and learning. “All of our institutions are looking for better ways to help new teachers enter the profession with these new technology skills. This grant will allow us to put our best ideas into practice and to focus on teachers in K-12 schools that have not yet benefited from the revolution in educational technology.”

Rubio says the grant funding will be used to significantly improve the technology experience students receive during their practice teaching assignments, particularly those students who do their practice teaching in schools serving low-income students.

The three-year grant is being provided through the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) program, an innovative effort to improve the quality of the preparation given to the huge numbers of new teachers entering the profession. The federal funding awarded to COATT was one of a handful of “catalyst grants” given to projects aimed at achieving large-scale institutional change. “This grant recognizes that we are making progress in Michigan and that we have the potential to do much more,” said Rubio.

The Consortium, formed in June 1999, regularly awards its Michigan Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology to practicing teachers and those just entering the profession who meet COATT’s high standards for the use of technology in the classroom. The Michigan Certificate, the first of its kind in the country, is both an important credential for those seeking their first teaching positions and a respected professional honor for veteran educators.

The 17 member institutions of COATT are Albion College, Andrews University, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Kalamazoo College, Lake Superior State University, Michigan State University, Oakland University, Saginaw Valley State University, Spring Arbor University, University of Detroit-Mercy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Michigan-Dearborn, University of Michigan-Flint, Wayne State University and Western Michigan University.

The K-12 member organizations are Merit Network, Inc., Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL), Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA), Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel (MFT & SRP), Northern Michigan Learning Consortium, and Regional Educational Media Centers Association of Michigan (REMCAM).