In partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education, funding will train 550+ diverse paraprofessionals for teaching positions in Baton Rouge’s public schools via job-embedded degree apprenticeships and certifications.
BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Reach University, in partnership with the Louisiana Resource Center for Educators (LRCE) and New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR), is the recipient of a projected $6.9 million U.S. Department of Education grant to accelerate the expansion of a teacher preparation degree apprenticeship to fill critical educator vacancies in Baton Rouge’s highest-need districts.
With this funding, Reach’s qualified teacher pipeline will grow from 600 to 1.2k educators across underserved districts.
The grant is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program, and it comes on the heels of the Department’s recently announced Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) awards, which also featured Reach University as a grant recipient. Earlier this month the TQP program awarded Reach an expected $8.7 million to grow teacher degree apprenticeships in Arkansas.
This latest grant funds Reach’s work in Louisiana and will place fully-certified teachers, specialized in math, science, and English language arts, in high-need parishes within three years, with a total of 550+ teachers filling critical vacancies within five years.
“The state of Louisiana places a top priority on growing high-quality teacher prep programs that break down historical barriers, support districts in recruiting local, representative educators, and ensure that every teacher who enters the classroom is qualified, experienced, and ready,” said Em Cooper, Deputy Assistant Superintendent of Educator Development, Louisiana Department of Education. “Individually, Reach, LRCE and NSBR have played a distinct role in this effort. Together, they will dramatically accelerate the recruitment and placement of specialized, STEM-qualified, and certified teachers in schools that need it most.”
The program places two long-standing goals into focus: quantifying the teacher shortage and building inclusive and high-quality pathways into the field of teaching for a diverse set of adult learners. Although the program’s innovative and nontraditional pathway is open to any adult learner, it is with community college graduates where there is the greatest program focus and opportunity.
“Similar to our recent ED TQP grant award, there is no ramp-up time in this effort. Reach, LRCE and NSBR are putting these funds to use today, day one,” said Joe Ross, President, Reach University. “With this SEED funding, we’ll double Reach’s qualified teacher pipeline from nearly 600 to 1,200 diverse educators across underserved parishes in Baton Rouge and throughout Louisiana. In parallel, we’ll more closely align local community colleges with K-12 districts to redefine the A.A. to B.A. pathway and create a new type of professional and debt-free degree opportunity for historically overlooked talent.”
Reach’s teacher degree apprenticeships ensure districts can grow their own educators by recruiting local talent to fill needed paraprofessional roles. Once the paraprofessional is hired, they will begin a fully job-embedded teacher apprenticeship, where their job leads to a debt-free bachelor’s degree. Upon degree completion, the paraprofessional will move into a full-time teaching role in their “home” parish. Teacher vacancy progression is tracked using a first of its kind labor analytics technology platform from Reach’s partner, Craft Education System.
Associate degree holders will secure their bachelor’s degree and teaching certification in three years or less. The grant will continue to fuel the…