We Need Teacher Preparation Programs to Develop Educators and Sustain the Field of Education; I Have an Idea of How to Get and Keep Teachers
I began my teaching career by participating in the University of the District of Columbia Systematic Teacher Preparation Program (STPP). This program acclimated students interested in becoming teachers in the field of education. STPP offered many supports, including part-time employment, money for tuition and books, mentoring, and test preparation. As part of the STPP, I could work up to 20 hours a week in a public school as an educational aid. Educational aids are now referred to as paraprofessionals. The job title changed, but the work is the same. As an educational aide, I supported the classroom teacher, worked with small groups of students, taught lessons, constructed bulletin boards, read stories, graded papers, and co-taught lessons.
Beyond receiving much-needed financial support that allowed me to attend college and become a certified teacher, the program provided me with foundational skills that helped me develop into the educator I am today and made me a strong advocate for teacher preparation programs. STPP's approach to developing teachers was to provide hands-on opportunities for students to learn the job while taking classes. From the beginning of the program, the goal was for participants to become fully certified teachers.
Our country is experiencing a significant teacher shortage. I believe colleges or school systems offering teacher preparation programs are a meaningful way to attract and prepare teachers for long-term careers as educators. According to the Economic Policy Institute, "the teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought. When indicators of teacher quality (certification, relevant training, experience, etc.) are taken into account, the shortage is even more acute than currently estimated, with high-poverty schools suffering the most from the shortage of credentialed teachers."
Programs like STPP eliminate some of the hurdles people interested in becoming teachers face. In my 30+ years as an educator, the demands on teachers have increased, and interest in becoming a teacher has decreased. As a mentor teacher, I work with novice teachers. Many of the teachers I work with are career changers entering the field of education without the knowledge of how to navigate working in a school. I think these teachers would benefit from participating in teacher preparation programs designed to meet their unique needs.
Some new teachers need a program geared towards achieving initial certification and providing pedological support in classroom management, lesson planning, instructional strategies, cultural awareness training, etc. Earning certification is a huge hurdle for new teachers learning the job, taking classes, and meeting all of the demands of being a classroom teacher while preparing to take Praxis exams.
With our current teacher shortage, I think it's wise to help career-changing teachers meet their goal of becoming fully certified teachers and provide them the necessary support as STPP did for me. This is where a new model of the teacher preparation program for conditional teachers would be beneficial. Here is my idea…Teachers would participate in a fully-funded three-year program ending with a commitment to work five years for the school system that funds the program. A community college and the school system could work together to secure teachers.
The program would benefit career changes, and teachers beginning their careers would also benefit. All candidates would need less than 30 hours of coursework for certification or complete their degree. In the program's first year, candidates would work as para-professions, take four classes, and prepare to take their first Praxis exam. The second-year teachers would have their classroom (teacher of record) with mentoring support, take four classes, and take the Praxis. The program's final year would be spent finishing course work and assessment requirements with mentoring support. The goal is full certification by the beginning of the fourth school year.
Systemic Teachers Preparation Program 2.0 is on my list of things to do. I've identified a group of people that want to teach and the significant hurdles to achieving their goal. School systems are willing to hire conditional teachers and tell them what they must do for certification; however, an already difficult job is twice as hard without pedagogical knowledge and support. With the looming teacher shortage, it's time to figure out how to get and keep teachers. I have an idea.
Elaine Weiss , Emma García. “The Teacher Shortage Is Real, Large and Growing, and Worse than We Thought: The First Report in 'The Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market' Series.” Economic Policy Institute, 26 Mar. 2019, https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/.
