February 19, 2016
ECU launches educational partnership with Panasonic Foundation
ECU’s College of Education, the Panasonic Foundation and four rural school districts in eastern North Carolina are launching a partnership to break the links between race, poverty and educational outcomes by improving the academic and social success of all students. Panasonic is engaged in similar partnerships with communities across the country but this is the foundation’s first effort to work in a rural setting with a university.
Through the Panasonic Foundation’s Partnership Program, the COE will work on educational improvement with Duplin, Jones, Pender and Sampson county schools. The foundation will provide coaching support as well as funds to travel to national partnership conferences. ECU will provide local coaching and professional development opportunities.
Panasonic contacted ECU about the opportunity to build and add a rural consortium into their network. College of Education faculty members sought districts that fit the rural criteria and qualified as possible partners. The four districts selected have committed to meeting with ECU over the past 10 months to develop a plan for working with Panasonic.
On Monday March 7, representatives from each school district, ECU’s College of Education and the Panasonic Foundation will gather in Conference Room A at the East Carolina Heart Institute at 7:00 PM to formally announce the partnership.
Panasonic will fund one national coach (who will also work in districts across the country), and the College of Education will fund one full-time teaching faculty member to work with the national coach and each district in the consortium. COE faculty will also deliver of professional development based on the needs of the teachers in the consortium.
The purpose of this unique partnership is to improve equity and close achievement gaps.
“These types of partnerships (schools, universities, and business foundations) are unique,” said Matt Militello, program coordinator and Wells Fargo Endowed Chair of Educational Leadership at ECU. “We are happy to be on the cutting edge of changing the paradigms and models that will ultimately support district needs in order to improve student achievement.”