Fed $ Boosts Pathway To Teacher Ranks

Aspiring teachers like Symone Roberts will soon be able to fill vacant teacher roles in Hamden — and diversify the ranks — thanks to a program boosted by an infusion of federal money.

Roberts is one of 42 educators in Capitol Region Education Council’s (CREC) Teacher Residency Program (TRP) this year. The program is an 18-month long alternate route to elementary certification training, aimed at filling slots in 26 regional school systems amid a teacher shortage as well as difficulties finding classroom educators of color.

CREC leaders and partners gathered at Hamden’s Ridge Hill School with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal Friday to celebrate the expansion of the program thanks to a $275,000 grant from the federal government.

The awarded funds will be used to increase TRP’s mentor resources, program evaluation efforts, and develop a special education curriculum that remains free of cost for participants. 

The goal of TRP is to diversify state public school educators and inspire future educators to join the profession.

TRP partners with school districts in four regions of the state: Hamden/North Haven, served by ACES (Area Cooperative Education Services); Trumbull; Hartford; and Old Lyme. 

Currently TRP has 42 participants. With the awarded funds, next year it is working to fill 61 participant slots. The ACES cohort will increase from eight participants to 18 for the 2022 – 2023 academic year. 

Leaders described TRP as a rigorous program that connects non-certified teachers with experienced mentors and hands-on training as a pathway to classroom certification. 

TRP will help ​“create a new generation of teachers” from whom students can learn, academically, socially, and emotionally, Blumenthal said. 

He thanked the four ​“role models of the future” for working to advance in their profession. 

“You are the ones who are going to inspire really great teachers by your presence, your excellence, your professionalism,” Blumenthal told the cohort of educators. ​“You’re going to lead others to follow in your footsteps and stand on your shoulders.” 

Blumenthal reported that almost 50 percent of students in Connecticut are students of color — and only 10 percent of educators in the state are of color.

TRP requires applicants to have a bachelor’s degree, with the goal of working toward meeting requirements and assessments to become certified classroom teachers. 

This year Hamden has two resident teachers at Ridge Hill and Spring Glen Elementary School. The next cohort begins in June and will welcome six resident teachers to Hamden for the 2022 – 2023 school year. 

Once participants graduate in August, they will undergo a ten-month period of ​“transitional teaching,” then will become eligible to apply to be teachers of record and begin receiving teacher salaries in their second year.

The program strives to increase the racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of Connecticut’s teaching workforce by remaining debt free for participants, said TRP Director Marlene Megos.

“So much of career choices these days are made because of student debt,” Blumenthal said. 

Current resident teachers Joanna Ishmael, Roberts, Kettia Saint-Surin, and Michaelin Thomas joined the Friday announcement. 

Roberts and Saint-Surin have been teaching first and third grade, respectively, at Ridge Hill this school year. 

The group of educators agreed they had few teachers of color while growing up and are motivated to fill such roles. 

Roberts decided to get certified after working as a behavioral support assistant at New Britain High School two years ago. She also coached AAU basketball at New Britain High School and realized she loved working with youth. 

“I wanted to become a teacher to stop negative stereotypes. When the students see me, they see someone who looks like them or someone who comes from where they come from and is excelling and being successful,” she said. 

While in the program, participants get paid a non-certified teacher salary and receive benefits and hands-on training. 

“It’s the best of both worlds, book learning and actually integration with the students,” Roberts said. ​“I get to take the strategies that we learn in our course work and apply them to the classroom athlete at the same time.” 

Thomas said she is working to get certified to offer her students and colleagues with an unsaid ​“understanding of being in the same shoes.” 

Saint-Surin was previously a building substitute who was held back from certification because of its cost. 

She recalled learning to speak English in school, when Haitian Creole was her first language. ​“The teacher that taught me was so good, it put a fire in me,” she said. 

“I want students and staff to know that I am what professional looks like,” Saint-Surin added. 

Ishmael described the no-debt opportunity the program offers as a blessing that allows her to chase her dream during the pandemic. 

In middle school, Ishmael developed an interest in science after having her first teacher of color for science class. So far, she said, the program has helped her to gain confidence as a leader to later teach her students. ​“In order to develop confidence, I needed a program like this,” she said.

With the federal funds, the program is working to offer special education certifications in the near future to fill the national shortage in that area.

ACES Director of Human Resources Steve Cook reported that the demand for special ed teachers is projected to grow by 8 percent by 2026. 

“The paraprofessional-to-teacher pipeline is crucial in education. There are so many qualified paraprofessionals who have learned to support special education students one on one, hand in hand, in various districts and programs, so just imagine the expertise the wealth of knowledge they will bring to the front of the classroom,” Cook said. 

Watch the full press conference below.