Alternative certification program aims to help fill South Carolina teacher vacancies
I recently had the opportunity to join Stephen Biddix from WIS10 to discuss some of the work that South Carolina is doing to address teacher vacancies. To check out the video interview, you can view the original article here.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – As South Carolina continues to work through a teacher shortage, one organization says career changers could play a key role in helping fill classrooms statewide.
The latest educator supply and demand report from CERRA found teacher vacancies dropped 32% this school year, falling from 1,043 positions to 706 statewide. While education leaders view that as progress, hundreds of teaching positions remain unfilled across South Carolina.
One organization attempting to address those workforce challenges is Teachers of Tomorrow, an alternative certification program that helps individuals with bachelor’s degrees become certified educators.
The organization says it helped place more than 300 teachers in South Carolina classrooms this school year and now works with nearly 50 school districts across the state.
Many of those placements are in high-need areas, particularly special education, which has consistently been among the most difficult positions for districts to staff.
Alex Elson, chief growth officer for Teachers of Tomorrow, explained how it works: “You have a vacancy for a special education position; we have a teacher within 25 miles of your school who’s interested and is currently pursuing special education certification; we bring in those career switchers and play matchmaker,” he said.
The program focuses heavily on recruiting people entering education as a second career. Participants complete certification requirements while teaching and receive mentorship and support as they work toward full licensure.
Supporters of alternative certification programs argue they can help expand the teacher pipeline by attracting qualified candidates who may not have pursued traditional teacher preparation programs.
“For a long time, second-career individuals, if you want to call it that, that’s really something that’s been overlooked,” said Ryan Dellinger, director of education policy for the Palmetto Promise Institute. “These people are a little older, they have some experience, and it doesn’t really make sense to send them back to your traditional teacher prep program.”
The conversation comes as state leaders continue efforts to improve teacher recruitment and retention. South Carolina has raised minimum teacher salaries in recent years and adopted additional measures designed to strengthen the educator workforce.
But education experts say retaining teachers can be just as important as recruiting them.
Teachers of Tomorrow says educators who come through its program remain in the profession at rates comparable to those who enter teaching through traditional four-year college programs.
“We measure three-year retention for folks that have gone through our program. We are within fractions of a percentage point of the same data as those four-year traditional colleges, so we’re really proud folks that we train tend to stay in the profession,” Elson said.
When lawmakers return to Columbia in January, they are expected to examine once again policies aimed at addressing teacher shortages, including interstate teacher compacts and other efforts designed to help recruit educators into South Carolina classrooms.
