SANTA CRUZ — More than 4,000 students will be helped with math and literacy preparation as the result of a new state grant.

The UC Santa Cruz New Teacher Center was awarded $888,977 by the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

"We’re really targeting kids who traditionally have had a hard time being successful," said Ellen Moir, director of the New Teacher Center at UCSC.

UCSC’s role in the effort will be to provide expertise to new teachers.

Summer training would be offered to about 136 first- and second-year teachers in the mostly Latino East Side Union High School District in San Jose.

Those teachers would also teach summer math and literacy courses to incoming ninth graders heading to four highs schools in the district.

"We’ll be bringing some of the best teachers and researchers from UC Santa Cruz," Moir said.

The students’ progress will be monitored through the following three school years and be incorporated into a research study, Moir said.

The grant money is part of a statewide teacher improvement program. The Postsecondary Commission awards federal money each year for the effort.

This year, only 17 of 150 applicants received the grant funding, said Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz.

"During these trying fiscal times, I’m impressed by the UCSC education department and New Teacher Center’s pursuit of this grant," Laird said. "It’s this kind of dedication to improving public education at all levels that is at the heart of my long-term commitment to support the education department’s efforts."

UCSC’s New Teacher Center was established in 1998 as a national resource for new teacher professional development. It works with school districts, colleges and universities throughout California and 21 other states on programs for new teachers and administrators.