Watch Recorded Discussion Addressing Teacher Shortages through Partnerships
The Department of Education hosted a national Roundtable addressing Teacher Shortages through collaborative partnerships on April 7, 2022. 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 included Grow Your Own, Residency, and Apprenticeship Strategies to support pipelines into the education profession.
AACTE’s Jacqueline Rodriguez, vice president for research, policy, and advocacy, laid the context of the national educator shortage with data from AACTE’s recently released second edition of the National Portrait and Fall Member Survey. AACTE members Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Northern Colorado presented innovative programs that are supporting diverse candidates and para-professionals to enter the field. Gwen Perea Warniment, deputy secretary of teaching, learning and assessment for the state of New Mexico, shared the enormous financial investment New Mexico is contributing to state-wide residency programs. In addition to financial investments from the Department of Education, States, and local districts, Manny LaMarre, senior advisor to the Department of Labor, shared the newly established federal level apprenticeship program in teaching.
AACTE is proud to support Secretary Cardona’s call to action within the recently released fact sheet. The secretary is calling on higher education leaders and educator preparation programs to commit to the following:
- Increase the number of teaching residency programs and program capacity. Teacher residents, as part of their clinical experiences, can serve in schools as substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, or tutors as their academic schedules allow and as they complete requirements for teacher certification. An institution could use its HEERF institutional funds to expand its teacher training programs in response to the pandemic through such measures as hiring additional faculty and staff; providing stipends, scholarships, or other student aid; and creating additional course offerings.
- Work with states to establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor has approved standards that create an easy pathway for states to establish and use apprenticeship funding to support teaching residencies. As previously described, Registered Apprenticeship is an effective “earn and learn” model with a long history of establishing career pathways in various industries by providing structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences combined with job-related technical instruction with a mentor that leads to a nationally recognized credential. To learn more about Registered Apprenticeships, visit www.apprenticeship.gov.
- Establish or expand loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs. These programs can also include a commitment to teach in a high need area for a minimum number of years.
You can watch the Roundtable, which is featured on the AACTE website.
AACTE will continue to support the Department’s call to action and is eager to elevate your innovative program in future fact sheets. Please contact me at jrodriguez@aacte.org if you would like to discuss how your program is addressing your local teacher shortage.
