In partnership with the Arkansas Dept. of Education, funding will serve 650+ diverse, future educators through paid job-embedded, teacher apprenticeship degrees, certifications, and full-time teaching roles.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Reach University, our nation’s nonprofit leader in accredited teacher apprenticeship-based degrees, and TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project), a nonprofit addressing educational inequities in U.S. schools, announced today the receipt of a projected $8.7 million U.S. Department of Education grant to accelerate the growth and impact of its teacher prep apprenticeship degree and licensure programs throughout Arkansas’ highest-need communities.
With the right training & degree, there’s 1.3mm paraprofessionals who could fill 100% of current 300k teacher vacancies.
Issued in part of the Department’s Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant program, and awarded on the heels of the Administration’s recent announcement to utilize registered apprenticeships to achieve teacher staffing and representation goals, the funding will serve 650+ future educators, specialized in math, science, and English language arts, throughout the next five years.
“The state of Arkansas is investing heavily in smart teacher preparation and certification models that break down historical barriers to result in qualified, specialized and diverse educators leading classrooms across the state. Reach and TNTP have been on the forefront of this effort, and this funding will take Great Rivers ESC from our highest-need to highest-example of how districts can grow their own classroom-ready, representative teachers,” said Karli Saracini, Assistant Commissioner of Educator Effectiveness at Arkansas Department of Education.
The program offers three distinct pathways into teaching, providing those who have completed high school, community college, and/or an undergraduate degree a tailored, debt-free and certified pathway into the classroom and beyond.
For those without an undergraduate degree, the program equips districts with the ability to grow their own educators by recruiting local talent to fill needed paraprofessional roles. Once the paraprofessional is hired, they will begin a job-embedded teacher apprenticeship, where their job leads to a Liberal Studies B.A. Upon degree completion, the paraprofessional will move into a full-time teaching position within the district.
“With the right training and degree, there are 1.3 million paraprofessionals who could fill 100% of the current 300,000 public school teacher vacancies. But to make adult learner degree attainment possible, we must remove the forced choice between a job and a degree. With Reach’s job-embedded undergraduate programs, ‘either/or’ becomes ‘yes/and,’ creating a new way for districts to think about recruiting talent, upskilling that talent, and supporting each employee on a path to long-term career success. The state of Arkansas is not only a leader in embracing teacher apprenticeships to solve its teacher shortage, but in also starting with the communities who need it most,” said Dr. Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, Chancellor, Reach University.
Reach’s degree-bearing teacher apprenticeships offer a solution to long standing diversity and retention challenges seen throughout the country, and amplified in rural and low-income communities. The program ensures districts can recruit a diverse candidate pool, in which at least 50% of program completers and future teachers identify as Black, Indigenous and/or people of color. 90%+ of candidates are then hired and retained in their “home” districts for no less than five years. Demographic rates mirror Reach’s other district partners across Arkansas, Louisiana, California and Alabama.
“What’s most exciting is that we, alongside TNTP, are putting these funds to use…