The University of Arkansas at Monticello received a $110,870 grant from the Arkansas Department of Education to fund a content training program for mathematics teachers in grades 5-9.

   The program will serve teachers in the Monticello, Drew Central, Crossett, Gould, Warren and Lake Village Lakeside school districts. It started July 5 with an intense two-week training session on the UAM campus. Teachers will return to UAM in the fall and spring semesters for follow-up sessions and will be visited by UAM faculty during the school year.

   "Mathematics education is such a critical need in our public schools," said R. David Ray, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UAM. "Grants like these are so important, not only as a public service to the teachers of this region, but for improving education at the grassroots level."

   The grant is one of 22 partnerships between local education agencies and higher education institutions to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science. Partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty in institutions of higher education are at the core of these improvement efforts, according to a spokesman from the ADE.

   Grant funding is provided as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is distributed to the states by the U.S. Department of Education.