Previous Nationally Funded Projects
Project BESITOS
Project BESITOS was a federally funded Title III grant which supports a Career Ladder Project. This project certified/endorsed and sponsored 115 students to earn a B.S. in education and become qualified, bilingual/ESL endorsed teachers.
Primary Goal: Recruit, prepare, and mentor secondary students and paraprofessionals for teaching careers in Bilingual Education in order to increase the quality of Bilingual education for CLD students in Kansas.
Project Highlights: Project BESITOS provides participants with a solid background in research/theories of language acquisition, as well as an overview of key terms, frameworks, and theories in the field of Linguistics. Instructional approaches, methods, strategies, and techniques for second language learners in the public schools including strategies for native language support, curricular and instructional adaptation, and advocacy for programs, approaches, and students are taught and are expected outcomes for program participants.
Project DESTINY
Kansas State University’s High School Equivalency Program (HEP), which began in 2001, served approximately 75 students per year. All of the students who attended HEP were from families whose primary source of income is migrant and seasonal farm work. Approximately 98 percent of HEP students were from Hispanic ethnic descent. HEP students generally ranged in age from 17-21. They were recruited to Kansas State University and its satellite offices in Region 1 (Garden City Community College), Region 2 (Emporia School District) and Region 3 (El Centro in Kansas City) through the efforts of an extensive recruitment network which included the State Departments of Education and Labor, local school districts and community agencies.
Primary Goal: To collaborate with local, state and national agencies and organizations to improve education and related services for migrant children and their families through the development and study of programs and training addressed at specific needs.
Project CARE (Critically Advancing Results from Educators)
Project CARE was a five-year federally funded Title III grant that provided 200 educators and related staff with the support necessary to complete professional development in SIOP training and with their ESL endorsement.
Primary Goal: Increase the number and enhance the quality of ESL teachers and general classroom teachers needed to serve the growing number of English Language Learners in targeted high need/low performing schools in the Emporia, Kansas School District.
Project CHRYSALIS
Project CHRYSALIS was a federally funded grant program developed in conjunction with the No Child Left Behind Act; it employed a professional development program designed to recruit, train, and retain ethnically diverse teachers in order to assist school districts in the State of Kansas to remove the cultural and linguistic barriers that hinder the understanding, effective communication, and the academic achievement of the increasing Limited English Proficiency (LEP) student populations.
Primary Goal: To increase the number of ESL endorsed educators in order to strengthen the language instruction educational programs in the Salina and Wichita School Districts, and to serve the ever-increasing needs of the growing LEP student population in these "high need" districts.
Project NEW HORIZONS
Project NEW HORIZONS was a federally funded Title III grant, designed to maximize a research-based professional development model that would strengthen the capacity of classroom teachers in low performing schools and provide training to become endorsed in English Second Language (ESL) education.
Primary Goal: Increase the quantity of and improve the quality of approximately 190 classroom teachers serving ELL/LEP students in these low-performing schools. This project was designed to improve teacher preparedness through the SIOP professional development model in sheltered instructional strategies.
Project KORE
The primary, overarching goal of Project KORE (Kansans Organized For Results-based and Effective Instruction) was to scale up implementation of a coordinated, statewide system of personnel development/professional development that will increase the capacity of Kansas school systems to establish and use a multi-tiered model of scientific, research-based instruction, intervention, and assessment to improve the progress and performance of all students – especially those who are English language learners.
Project MAKING THE GRADE
Project MAKING THE GRADE was a Training for All Teachers program aimed at recruiting new teachers each year to team with experienced educators over an eighteen-week period to:
- Attend professional development activities to learn how to better meet the needs of English language learners/limited English proficient students;
- Team teach within their own content and grade level; and
- Develop adapted and modified curriculum for ELL/LEP students
Primary Goal: To provide for an effective Training for All Teachers program leading to systemic change, thus, preparing teachers to work successfully with all students and setting the stage for not only culturally and linguistically diverse students, but for all students to access post-secondary opportunities in a highly competitive skills-based job market.
Project MAESTRA
Project MAESTRA stands for Mentoring Administrators and Educators through Sheltered Training: increasing Rural student Achievement. Kansas State University (KSU) along with the Southwest Plans Regional Service Center (SPRSC) collaborated to develop the project designed to provide rural educators with long-term, professional development concerning the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students.
Primary Goal: The goal of Project MAESTRA was to increase the number and enhance the quality of ESL teachers needed to serve the growing number of LEP students in ten high-need rural Kansas school districts.
Project SYNERGY
Project SYNERGY was a national professional development program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s office of English language Acquisition under the provision of title III. This teacher preparation project served as a collaborative effort between Kansas State University (KSU), Garden City Community College (GCCC), and Seward County Community College (SCCC).
Primary Goal: The goal of Project Synergy was to increase the number of English as a Second language (ESL) endorsed teachers with bilingual capacities, highly qualified to meet the high standards of professional practice in the areas of south west Kansas teacher capacities, highly qualified to meet the high school standards of professional practice in the area of southwest Kansas teacher with a high number of English Language Learners (ELL) and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students.