Byrd Funding for Teacher Training Initiative Released

WASHINGTON, D.C…. Funds added to a federal appropriations bill by U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., have been released to continue the one-year-old Integrating Strategies and Technology in Educational Practice (InSTEP) program which provides teachers with new high-tech education tools and training.

“In the first year of the InSTEP program, more than 400 math, science, and technology teachers in West Virginia were trained to take advantage of rapidly developing education technologies in their classroom lessons. This funding will allow a new cadre of teachers to experience the highly acclaimed program and will provide more in-depth instruction for returning participants,” Byrd said.

“As computer technologies progress at an increasingly swift rate, many teachers are not able to keep pace. As a result, some students may never benefit from the educational opportunities offered by these new high-tech resources. The InSTEP initiative helps to expand West Virginia students’ knowledge about real-world applications of computers and technology and better prepare them to compete in the developing global marketplace,” Byrd said.

Byrd included the $3.6 million for the program, which is run through Wheeling Jesuit University, in the Fiscal Year 2002 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill. This funding supplements $2.5 million Byrd added in an earlier appropriations bill to intiate the program.

“The program’s ultimate goal is to provide every math and science teacher in West Virginia’s elementary and secondary schools with advanced training in computers and classroom technologies. Special emphasis is placed on the traditionally underserved regions of the state where schools and teachers are particularly in need of technology-related support and funding,” Byrd said.