Department of Education to Host Webinar on Strengthening Partnerships to Increase Teacher Candidates
The U.S. Department of Education invites you to join the Strengthening Partnerships Between States, School Districts, and Higher Education to Increase the Number of Teacher Candidates Prepared to Enter the Classroom and Provide Immediate Support to Schools Webinar. The webinar will be held Thursday, April 7 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EDT
As states, districts, and schools are working hard to address the impact of COVID-19 on students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs, many of them are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining teachers. Preexisting teacher shortages in critical areas such as special education; bilingual education; science, technology, engineering, and math; career and technical education; and early childhood education have only been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — directly impeding student access to educational opportunity. Research shows that shortages disproportionately impact students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and, often, rural communities.
During this roundtable we will
- Discuss the U.S. Department of Education’s call to action for states, institutions of higher education, and school districts to commit to using American Rescue Plan and other federal relief funds to help address teacher shortages.
- Share how federal relief funds and opportunities through the U.S. Department of Labor can and are being used to address teacher shortages and provide support to schools by establishing or scaling up teaching residency and apprenticeship programs.
- Hear from states increasing their investments in a diverse educator pipeline and from educator preparation programs at institutions of higher education that a re partnering with districts to scale up their programs and leveraging their residency and apprenticeship programs to provide immediate support to schools.
AACTE Participation
AACTE’s vice president for research, policy, and advocacy, Jacqueline Rodriguez, will present a national perspective on the ongoing educator shortages and promising practices to address them. Two of AACTE’s member institutions, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and University of Northern Colorado (UNCO), will present their work during the roundtable. Andrew Daire, dean of College of Education at VCU, and Corey Pierce, professor at UNCO, will discuss how they are increasing recruitment of diverse learners to their education programs.
If you are interested in joining this roundtable, register and please submit any questions you would like to have answered during the conversation. After you register, you will receive a Zoom link to join the meeting on Thursday, April 7 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EDT.
