First-grade teacher Virginia "Joey" Traynor spends two to three hours each weeknight — and most of her weekends — studying how to bring the most effective teaching methods to her classroom. She's into her second semester of teaching and has written about 30 pages on her findings.
Traynor is part of the $6 million Investing in Innovation, or i3, grant program. The new program started in the fall and expands UF's preexisting Florida Master Teacher Initiative into 20 high-poverty schools in Miami-Dade County.
The Florida Master Teacher Initiative trains teachers to improve their practice. It involves about 1,000 teachers in Collier, Duval, Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties and will be expanded through the i3 program.
The new program will benefit about 1,200 teachers and 30,000 pre-K through third-grade students.
In 2010, the Florida Master Teacher Initiative beat 1,700 other teacher development programs to join about 50 winners, chosen by the U.S. Department of Education, to receive the i3 $5 million grant. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation also gave $1 million.
Teachers enroll in online courses, conduct classroom research projects and work with UF professors-in-residence. Traynor is taking Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, her second course since the i3 program's launch in fall. She meets regularly with professor Raquel Diaz.
"It's very intensive," Traynor said. The teachers work full-time in addition to participating in the program.
Traynor faces challenges such as a lack of family support for students and a lack of technological resources as a teacher at a high-poverty school.
Philip Poekert, a professor-in-residence and district manager for i3, said the program is a chance for UF to study the impact of the Florida Master Teacher Initiative, which he calls the "gold standard of educational research."
The program is heavily scientific, Poekert said. There are teachers in control groups and experimental groups, he said.
He said the cornerstone of the initiative is the Teacher Leadership for School Improvement program, a hands-on master's degree program. The i3 program plans to enroll another 65 early education teachers from 20 Miami-Dade schools.
"The approach that we champion really puts learning right into the lap of the teacher," said Don Pemberton, director of UF's Lastinger Center for Learning, where the initiative was founded.
The i3 program also plans to expand its Teaching Fellows program to include about 270 more teachers from the schools.
The Principal Fellows program is also expanding, and it is planning a networking event in May for principals. On Thursday, professor Nancy Dana will lead a meeting for principals to discuss inquiry projects and receive feedback from professors.
"Anytime you're introduced to a new perspective," Traynor said, "you're going to be looking for ways to improve your practice."
