Marzano Research to Support U of W's Future Educator Development

CENTENNIAL, CO--(Marketwired - July 20, 2017) - Marzano Research is proud to announce that it has been selected to partner with the University of Wyoming on its Trustees Education Initiative (TEI). With initial funding support provided through a $5 million grant from the Daniels Fund, the initiative supports the university's College of Education in its vision to achieve pre-eminence in the development of future educators, and its goal of producing Wyoming P-12 students and high school graduates who are among the most skilled and best educated in the nation.

"Marzano Research is excited to partner with the University of Wyoming as they work to enhance their educator preparation programs and the future of kids," said Jennifer Norford, chief program officer at Marzano Research. "We believe that innovation initiatives like this are critical to bringing about strong, research-based education systems that work for kids."

The research department at Marzano Research will provide innovation exploration and meeting facilitation services to the initiative's TEI Research Work Groups (RWGs).

The RWGs are made up of a broad base of education stakeholders who evaluate educator preparation program performance, the university's current model, its alignment to accreditation standards, and its effectiveness in addressing Wyoming teacher shortage areas and rural education needs. Moving beyond these baseline evaluations, RWGs will develop new, innovative practice recommendations that will ultimately be considered for implementation by the TEI Governing Board and University Board of Trustees.

"Marzano Research has been a great partner in supporting TEI's beginning work to explore the most effective and innovative educator preparation models around the world. Building on that exploration, TEI is designing models that set aside historic practices," said Rebecca Watts, TEI executive director. "This collaborative work is yielding initial results that hold great promise for moving the University of Wyoming to the forefront of pioneering models of educator preparation with an ultimate goal of enhancing the learning outcomes of Wyoming's P-12 learners to ensure their long-term success and a bright future for our state."

Marzano Research has been working with the university on the initiative since January to facilitate RWG meetings and to provide the first phase of their literature review. As a result of being awarded the contract, it will continue to support the initiative through June of 2020.

"Working with the university and the college's education stakeholders over the last six months, it is clear that they are dedicated to creating the best educator preparation program in the country," said David Yanoski, researcher at Marzano Research. "Facilitating their learning and decision-making is a privilege, and I am looking forward to the resulting innovations."

In addition to the TEI contract, Marzano Research is providing further assistance to Wyoming educators as they refine the state's education system.

As the lead for the federal Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central contract, Marzano Research is supporting the Wyoming Department of Education in its efforts to work with stakeholders to develop recommendations for how education leaders should be evaluated under the state's Certified Personnel Evaluation Systems. Those recommendations will inform future legislation.

Detailed information on the Trustees Education Initiative is available at: http://www.uwyo.edu/trust_edu_init/index.html.