Francis Marion University - School of Education

Over the past several years, many attempts have been made to solve the problems of providing high quality education to children of poverty by sending experts to study the problems and provide assistance to those who work with these children.

The Francis Marion University Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty operates from a completely different perspective. Rather than relying on external expertise, the Center works to solve the problems inherent in educating children of poverty by developing expertise in those that work with these children on a daily basis. Only through developing local capacity to solve problems will true progress be made in the struggle to help those in greatest need -- children of poverty.

More specifically, the purpose of the Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty is to increase the achievement of children of poverty by improving the quality of undergraduate teacher preparation, graduate teacher preparation, and the professional development of in-service teachers. The primary activities to be completed during the life of the Center include: (1) revising the undergraduate teacher education program, based on best practice research and practitioner insights, (2) training teachers in the conduct and use of research to increase their ability to make data-based decisions, (3) linking research directly with professional development, (4) helping teachers understand parents who live in poverty and the community resources that are available to them, and (5) seeking state certification for graduates of a to-be-developed Master’s Degree program in an effort to elevate the status of teachers of children of poverty.

The work of the FMU Center of Excellence has been made possible through a five-year grant awarded by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Centers of Excellence in South Carolina are funded through the Education Improvement Act of 1984 [http://www.che400.state.sc.us/web/affairs].

Rationale for the FMU Center of Excellence

The Pee Dee region of South Carolina is an eight-county area located in the northeastern section of the state between the Piedmont and Coastal regions. These eight counties contain 18 school districts -- four counties with one district, three with three districts, and one with five districts. The total student enrollment of these districts is slightly more 65,000 students. The districts range in size from an enrollment of just under 900 to an enrollment of just under 14,000. Despite the size differences, these districts share one thing in common: significant pockets of poverty.

About five years ago, the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee developed a poverty index that is a composite of the percent of students in each district who are eligible for Medicaid services and/or those who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. A poverty index of 90.0, for example, means that 90% of the students are eligible for Medicaid services, qualify for free or reduced-price meals, or both. Thus, higher indices indicate greater poverty. For the 18 districts in the Pee Dee region, the median poverty index is 78.9%. Statewide, the median poverty index is 65.7%. Ten of the 18 districts rank in the highest quarter of districts statewide in terms of the poverty index. For these counties, the range of poverty indices is from 82.9% to 94.7%.

Numerous studies both in South Carolina and nation-wide have linked poverty with student achievement. On the 2003 District Report Card, eight of the 18 districts received absolute ratings of Below Average (n = 7) or Unsatisfactory (n = 1). The other ten districts received absolute ratings of Average or Good. There were no ratings of Excellent. More troubling, however, were the districts improvement ratings. Seven of the 18 districts received improvement ratings of Unsatisfactory, with three more districts receiving improvement ratings of Below Average. Only two districts received improvement ratings of Good and there were no improvement ratings of Excellent. These low improvement ratings, coupled with a recent analysis of three-year longitudinal achievement data conducted by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, suggest that, not only do students in these districts not learn at high levels, but they fall further behind their peers the longer they are in school.

Cognizant of this situation and aware of the fact that one of the factors - perhaps the single greatest factor - involved in improving student learning is the quality of the classroom teacher, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to establish a Center of Excellence for the improvement of teacher education. The RFP is unique in that it focuses on the preparation and ongoing professional development of teachers who work or intend to work in low-performing schools and districts - schools and districts like those in the Pee Dee region.

This high concentration of poverty in a single geographic area provides both a challenge and an opportunity. Located near the geographic center of the Pee Dee region, Francis Marion University (FMU) is ready to face that challenge and take advantage of that opportunity. In addition to geographic location, there are other reasons that FMU is uniquely qualified to house a Center of Excellence for the Preparation of Teachers to Teach Children of Poverty.

First, FMU is the only state university serving the Pee Dee region. Second, over 90 percent of its almost 4,000 students come from South Carolina, with the majority of those coming from the eight counties that comprise the Pee Dee region. Third, many of the students who enroll at FMU are the first in their families to attend college. Fourth, because of its long-time relationship with the Pee Dee Education Center, FMU is already part of a regional infrastructure serving schools in neighboring counties. Finally, a Center for Excellence for the Preparation of Teachers to Teach Children of Poverty is consistent with the mission of FMU. Its mission statement states, in part, that the University "seeks to serve as a catalyst for regional development. Faculty, staff members, and advanced students … render academic and practical assistance to regional schools and other organizations [in an effort to build] a better educated, more culturally enriched, and more prosperous region."

Benefit to K-12 Districts/Schools

The benefits are immediate and on-going. Superintendents from all "partner districts" have written letters of support for the Center. By participating as "partners" in the Center, the districts:

are involved in the development of new teacher preparation programs that improve the quality of their novice teachers;
have experienced teachers who are better trained in the design, conduct, and use of action research to improve the teaching-learning process;
are able to work jointly with FMU faculty and educators from neighboring districts to solve the long-standing problems of providing quality education to children of poverty; and,
are able to establish more meaningful and beneficial relationships between schools, parents, and communities, using community resources to benefit their students.

Benefits to the "participating school districts" will be similar, although these benefits will begin to accrue in Years 4 and 5.