Darden College of Education Awarded $600,000 Grant

Karen Crum, Old Dominion University assistant professor of educational leadership and counseling, has been awarded a $655,969 school leadership grant from the U.S. Department of Education. It was one of only 22 DOE school leadership grants awarded nationally.

"This grant demonstrates that the college offers the best school leadership program in the commonwealth,"said Dean William Graves.

The five-year grant will fund a collaborative projectby thecollege's Research and Evaluation in Public Schools (PREPS) program and the Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership (CTQEL). Crum and PREPS director Dave Blackburn designed their school leadership project around their relationship with the Northampton County Public Schools on the Eastern Shore.

"This grant is critical to building CTQEL capacity to offer Virginia rural schools a way to grow their own leaders in collaboration with higher education," said Blackburn.

The award will support a new generation of school leaders who are prepared for school administrator certification. The ODU initiativefeaturesspecially designed courses that meet Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards and Virginia accrediting standards, as well as address the identified needs of the school division. The project also includes a strong mentoring component, plus a three-semester internship that provides in-depth, authentic experiences.

Rick Bowmaster, Northampton County Public Schools superintendent, said the program will ultimately give the district a highly qualified pool of new school leader candidates to draw from as needed.