News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news Contact: Rene Abadie Date: 8/11/03   SLU GRANT TO AID AREA TEACHERS       HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University has received a $90,000 grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents to provide assistance for middle school math, science and English/language arts teachers in three area parishes.       The grant is under the direction of mathematics instructor Rebecca Muller. Southeastern instructors will work with 30 teachers in six schools in Orleans, St. John and Washington parishes with a goal of improving students’ scores on standardized testing.       The six schools are all participating institutions in the state’s federally-funded GEAR UP program, designed to improve academic achievement among low-income students during critical pre-high school years. GEAR UP, which stands for “Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs,” is a U.S. Department of Education-funded program.       Muller said the teachers participated in a weeklong seminar at Southeastern in July and will receive one-on-one follow-up during the academic year. “The workshop was designed to provide the teachers with guidance to better match their classroom instruction to prepare students for the standardized tests they will be taking,” she said. “These tests are critically important because they can determine a student’s grade-level promotion or entry into post-secondary education.”       The grant is the second GEAR UP allocation made to Southeastern in the past year. Southeastern is currently joining with Hammond Junior High School and several other partners in a $1.2 million pilot program designed to improve student achievement there and raise educational aspirations among the students. The five-year grant provides intensified math and English instruction to seventh grade cohorts of students. Return to News Releases