Francis Marion University - School of Education

FMU Center of Excellence

Goals and Activities

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. To accomplish this purpose, the Center will work toward achieving five major goals. Several activities are planned for implementation over the course of the five years of the Center of Excellence project that are designed to support the achievement of each goal.

Click on the goals to learn more about these activities.

Goal 1. Design and implement pre-service teacher education programs that attract qualified applicants and enable graduates to effectively teach children of poverty.

Goal 2. Provide high quality professional development programs that include collaborative research activities and the use of existing research evidence to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment in schools serving large numbers of children of poverty.

Goal 3. Equip teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with parents, health and human service providers, and other community resources to meet the social, emotional, and physical needs of children of poverty and to serve as advocates for them in the school, community, and state.

Goal 4. Develop a program that recognizes extensive study by teacher candidates and in-service teachers, and that leads to their formal designation as a “Teacher of Children of Poverty” by Francis Marion University School of Education or by the South Carolina Department of Education (and perhaps the National Board).

Goal 5. Become the premier resource in South Carolina for helping teachers learn how to provide a high quality education to all children of poverty.