The New America project found that the most common and effective types of programs focus on recruiting high school students. A program in Minnesota, for example, helps high school students earn dual credit for education courses taken while in high school. Apprenticeship programs are also springing up that include high school and college courses combined with paid work-based learning. Tennessee is now serving as a model for other states. The state sponsors a permanent teacher occupation apprenticeship program that provides a work-based learning pathway to give students hands-on experience while earning money. Students are provided with job placement upon completion.
The second most common GYO program focuses on paraeducators. Some states offer scholarship programs to help paraeducators earn special education teaching degrees. Support for paraeducators is often locally based, with administrators tapping specific individuals to enroll in GYO programs. Programs can include scholarships, financial assistance, test preparation, academic advising, and on-the-job learning. The STEP UP and Teach Program offered by Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), for example, provides paraeducators with mentorship and partial tuition reimbursement. The program focuses on recruiting where the need is the strongest: potential special education, multilingual and multicultural, and STEM teachers.
Strong GYO Programs Need to Include Strategic Retention Strategies
For special educators, adding a strong retention component to GYO programs will be crucial. Attracting new teachers to the field is only half the battle, keeping them from leaving the field requires intentional evidence-based practices included in the GYO planning process.
Retention strategies need to focus on the main reasons special educators leave the field. The majority (84% percent) of special education teachers enter the field planning to stay. What happens? New teachers often have overly optimistic views about how they can make a difference in the lives of their students, but these new teachers sometimes lack the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with students with disabilities within a school system.
One bright note found in recent research is that, not surprisingly, homegrown teachers have higher rates of retention. In addition, a new national study shows that special educators of color have higher retention rates, especially in urban schools. This is encouraging news that suggests that GYO programs are having some success in growing and diversifying the workforce and supporting teachers so that they remain in the profession.
By focusing on local resources–our high school students and paraprofessionals–and including strategic retention strategies, we are seeing encouraging signs that we are having an impact on reducing teacher shortages.
Related:
3 ways telepractice helps combat burnout in special education
How we built a whole-child, wraparound approach to special education
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