College of Education Receives Grant from Forward Arkansas

Dec. 2, 2021 | Cannon-Clary College of Education |

The Harding University Cannon-Clary College of Education has received a $100,000 grant from Forward Arkansas, an organization dedicated to equitably transform learning for every
student. Harding will participate alongside other higher education institutions to equip educators for challenges faced in the classroom.

"We see the Forward Arkansas Design Collaborative as a support system to transform us from our vision to a new reality for preparing and supporting highly qualified teachers in every classroom in Arkansas schools,” said Dr. Donny Lee, dean of the Canon-Clary College of Education. “This collaborative provides the ‘critical friend’ to walk alongside us as we work together to consider how and what to meaningfully change to move forward to make our vision a reality. We recognize we need help to do this, and this collaboration provides what we believe to be just the right help. The initial year-long planning phase is the perfect opportunity for us to unpack data, look ‘under the hood’ to see what is really going on, consider options to improve what we do and how we do it, and to move beyond where we are right now."

Forward Arkansas is a nonprofit organization founded in 2014 through grants from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and Walton Family Foundation with the goal of improving outcomes for all students. Forward Arkansas selected institutions based on their strong commitment to increasing teacher diversity and creating a legacy of fundamental transformation.

“We want to support and champion Arkansas institutions that have the bold ideas and committed leadership needed to transform our state’s teacher pipeline,” said Ben Kutylo, Forward Arkansas’s executive director. “Through the collaborative, we aim to help Arkansas recruit more qualified teachers, better prepare educators for the challenges of the classroom and improve overall teacher retention rates.”

Additional participating institutions in the Forward Arkansas Educator Preparation Program Design Collaborative are Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and University of Central Arkansas.

For more information, visit www.forwardarkansas.org .