Gov. Mike Huckabee says that a new online training program for Arkansas teachers will give public school teachers new tools to help students perform better in school.
Wednesday, Huckabee helped launch the Arkansas IDEAS program, or Internet Delivered Education for Arkansas Schools. The program is designed to help teachers complete 60 hours of required professional development each year as mandated by the state Legislature.
Arkansas IDEAS was developed through the Arkansas Online Professional Development Initiative, a collaboration among the Arkansas Educational Television Network, the Arkansas Department of Education and PBS TeacherLine, which provides professional development courses for teachers nationwide.
AETN Education Director Kathleen Branton says the free program will offer online workshops and courses to educators that can be accessed 24 hours a day. Branton says that teachers can count courses completed through Arkansas IDEAS toward the professional development requirements.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)