When some of Delaware's best classroom teachers work with their colleagues to help them learn successful instructional techniques ... when social studies education students at UD serve as mentors for National History Day projects ... when high school sophomores and juniors from underrepresented groups spend a weekend on campus learning about careers in education ... when University students work in partnership with low-income children and their parents at a city community center ... All are participating in programs supported by a gift from MBNA America Inc.

In February 2000, MBNA announced a pledge of $25 million in UD's fund-raising effort, the Campaign for Delaware--the largest gift of the campaign to date. Of that total, $2 million was earmarked for CHEP's Delaware Center for Teacher Education, which has used interest from the donation to help support a variety of programs.

DCTE strengthens pre-service teacher education for UD students, as well as in-service professional development for practicing teachers, all in line with Delaware's new statewide standards for student achievement in public schools.

"We've tried to be very careful with the donation so that we are funding as many projects as possible but also funding projects that are large enough to make a difference," DCTE Director Carol Vukelich says. "We're especially pleased with the diversity of projects we've been able to fund so far. It's very exciting, because these are projects we wouldn't otherwise be able to do."

Vukelich, who is the L. Sandra and Bruce L. Hammonds Professor in Teacher Education, says the programs supported in the first year of the donation include:

Festival of Words. Last March, about 150 middle and high school students and teachers came to campus for what organizers say will be an annual celebration of writing. The daylong event featured sessions on young-adult and classic literature, a poetry-writing contest, a keynote speech by noted young-adult author Laurie Halse Anderson and presentations by UD faculty, middle and high school teachers and writers from the community.

Written evaluations from participants included a teacher's comment that, "This conference gave me some new ideas and resources to help freshen up my teaching." A student participant wrote, "I loved all the classes I did and wish I could have done more." The 2002 festival will be held March 2.

The Delaware Social Studies Education Project and the Delaware Reading Project. Both these ongoing projects coordinated by the Delaware Center for Teacher Education, along with the center's Delaware Writing Project, are examples of "teachers teaching teachers," Vukelich says.

The programs begin with an intensive summer institute, at which teachers from throughout Delaware who are nominated by their districts for their classroom success, gather to perfect their instructional techniques. Last summer's Social Studies Institute, for example, focused on ways to integrate such social studies disciplines as history, economics, geography and civics with the teaching of reading. Each institute fellow then develops a workshop, which he or she presents at various times during the school year to colleagues, helping them develop and practice similar teaching methods. (See article on preceding page for more information about the Delaware Reading Project.)

Recruitment of minority teacher education candidates. Last May, a select group of minority students, all high school sophomores and juniors from underrepresented groups, and their parents were invited to the UD campus to encourage them to consider careers as teachers. Forty-one students spent a weekend interacting with University education students and attending presentations on teacher education programs, admissions, housing, financial aid and other UD services. On campus and statewide, education officials are seeking to increase the number of minority teachers.

History Day 2001. An annual event, National History Day involves a competition among middle and high school students, who create projects in such categories as individual research paper; individual or group exhibit, similar to a museum exhibit; individual or group performance, which is a dramatic portrayal of a historical topic; and individual or group documentary, such as a video or slide show. In April, Delaware's History Day 2001 was held, as usual, on the UD campus. But, in a new program, this year's event involved many of the University's social studies education students, who served as project mentors for students and teachers, as judges for the competition and in organizing the event.

La Red Mágica. This program, Spanish for "The Magical Web," began in 1998 as the University-Community Partnership for Meaningful Education. The partnership is designed to build an exemplary after-school program for children and young teen-agers, based on principles of voluntary, collaborative and informal learning. UD teacher education students, as part of a class in intercultural learning, work with youngsters at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, Del.

Program assessment systems. The MBNA donation also is being used to help support three faculty groups--in early childhood development and education, elementary teacher education and social studies education--working to develop model assessment systems for their programs. The goal is to find ways to monitor education students' acquisition of the skills they will need to be effective classroom teachers.

In outlining the programs supported by the donation to UD, Vukelich notes that the contribution is just part of MBNA's involvement in numerous education-related programs including encouraging its employees to volunteer to mentor children.

"The company contributes a lot to the community," she says, "and we certainly appreciate having a piece of that support."