Overview
The Bush Foundation was established in 1953 by Archibald Granville Bush and his wife Edyth Bassler Bush. At that time, Archibald Bush was the chairman of the executive committee of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, better known as 3M, out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Through this foundation, Archibald and Edyth Bush were able to set aside funds to help those less fortunate than themselves. The Foundation has grown significantly since its inception and has expanded beyond Minnesota into North and South Dakota.
The Valley Partnership
Most recently, the Bush Foundation embarked upon a teacher effectiveness initiative to address the need for 25,000 new teachers in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota over the next 10 years by partnering with 14 teacher preparation programs in this region. The Valley Partnership which includes Minnesota State University Moorhead, North Dakota State University in Fargo, and Valley City State University is one of those 14 teacher preparation partnerships forming the Network for Excellence in Teaching or NExT.
The NExT Program
The Network for Excellence in Teaching (NExT) is focused on recruiting great students, preparing them well, placing them in K-12 schools, and supporting them once they get there. This is being done by recruiting the best students into the teaching profession to "raise the bar" on how teaching is perceived in society.
Recruit
As a member of NExT, the Valley Partnership seeks those young people who are ambitious, intelligent, desire to improve the lives of those around them, seek intellectual stimulation, desire job flexibility, and find meaning in making a difference in the lives of young people.
Prepare
The goal of the Valley Partnership is to provide rich opportunities in the college classroom and in K-12 schools that will provide teacher candidates with the pedagogical and content knowledge, skills, and dispositions for effective teaching.
Place
Through partnerships with area K-12 school districts, the Valley Partnership hopes to place teacher education graduates in buildings whose personnel are already working with our programs to utilize the most up-to-date strategies in classroom practice.
Support
The Valley Partnership will work with area K-12 school districts to develop and implement support for new teachers that is multi-faceted and ongoing for 3-4 years after graduation. The focus of support is to help teachers ensure that they are promoting student growth based on evidence of student learning and reflection on teaching practice.
