April 18, 2024
Investor Business Feature: A Creative Homegrown Solution to the Teacher Shortage
It’s no secret our state is facing a teacher shortage. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, two-thirds of Tennessee schools started the 2023-2024 school year with vacancies. Nearly 3,900 teaching positions across the state were either vacant or held by someone with an emergency teaching credential.
As many economic development professionals know, having good schools helps to attract and retain employers and employees alike. Addressing the teacher shortage requires a nuanced, holistic approach with partners across education, government, business and communities.
The more we unpack and examine possible solutions, the more we come to understand that all parts of a regional education ecosystem – early learning, K–12, community colleges, colleges and universities – are interconnected. Each element can effectively promote or painfully disrupt and disconnect education journeys.
Western Governors University’s (WGU) Teachers College, part of the School of Education, has partnered with more than 2,600 school districts and more than 500 community colleges nationwide, including more than 20 here in Tennessee. As a result, we help prepare rising teachers and support the professional journeys of existing teachers and leaders within a region.
One of our partnerships is with Hamblen County Schools. It’s a special partnership, built together with Walters State Community College, designed to keep local students in Hamblen County as teachers. Students can attend Walters State and earn their associate degree and then enroll at WGU to receive their bachelor’s degree. The county guarantees a job to the prospective teachers once they graduate to help fill empty teaching positions throughout the district.
“We were looking for a partner that could provide flexible access to coursework in a wide variety of endorsement areas, had a proven track record of successful graduates, and could assist us in developing a pipeline of teachers during a time of a national teacher shortage,” said Matthew Drinnon, HR supervisor at Hamblen County Schools. “WGU seemed to be the best fit for our partnership in providing this flexibility so that our employees could balance work with returning to school to pursue a teaching career.”
Since launching in 2021, 38 new teachers have taken advantage of the program and are currently working in Hamblen County Schools. WGU’s Teachers College has nearly 3,000 graduates and about 1,600 current students in Tennessee. WGU’s online model is designed specifically with working adults in mind and is uniquely positioned to help train and grow teachers.
“The ability of a student to earn their teacher certification and bachelor’s degree with no student debt, while working with experienced educators and gaining that valuable perspective and training as teaching assistants, is an invaluable training tool for our teachers of tomorrow,” said Drinnon. “I think it is this personal touch that allows the program to be successful. The willingness of the university to reach out to students to gain their perspective of the program and strive to continuously improve it has been the hallmark of this partnership and is why it continues to grow.”
Partnerships like this represent the kind of tailor-made, creative solutions leaders should be prepared to explore as we all work together to build the next generation of teachers.