Coppin State University received a $3.7 million Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support Coppin’s Pathways to Professions (P2P) initiative over the next five years.

“The Pathways to Professions Program builds upon the foundation of Coppin State University as a destination for training and cultivating quality educators, who then go on to shape the minds of our young people,” said Coppin State University President Anthony L. Jenkins, Ph.D. “Through this program, we provide support and development opportunities for educators of diverse backgrounds, so they can, in-turn, help build brighter futures for their students, themselves, and their communities.

We are developing a national model for how to prepare and retain great teachers by prioritizing their professional well-being. This is how we reverse the ongoing teacher shortage negatively impacting schools across our nation,”

– Coppin State University President Anthony L. Jenkins, Ph.D. on the P2P nitiative

This is the second large-scale federal grant awarded in 2022 at Coppin. Earlier this year, Coppin and partners received the Center of Educational Excellence for Black Teachers Grant (CEEBT) with over $1.8 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant supports the newly established Center for Inclusive Excellence (CIE), which aims to create a national model for inclusivity in the classroom and workplace.

Associate Professor Dr. Yi Huang, Ph.D., the director of the CIE wrote both grants.

“Breaking through traditional approaches to solving community-wide challenges of gaps in academic achievements and career outcomes, the CIE will provide multiple pathways to increase access, improve effectiveness, and accelerate career advancement for teachers of diverse background,” said Dr. Huang.

According to the University, in 2023, the CIE will introduce stackable credentials as model Career Ladders for Teachers. As one of the first of its kind, the innovative stackable credentials will help realize the goals of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, offering teachers with both the short-term advantage of earning one or more post-baccalaureate certificates and the longer-term option of earning an advanced degree with salary incentives and national recognition.