And it’s not just enrollment.  There were 28% fewer graduates from educator preparation program over that same time frame.  The only bright spot is alternative certification programs which showed a significant increase in enrollment in a few key states – like Texas.

Here are the problems as highlighted by the paper –

• There are 1/3 fewer students enrolling in teacher preparation programs in 2018 than in 2010
• If you take out alternative certification – the enrollment declined by 43%
• There are 28% fewer students completing teacher preparation program sin 2018 than in 2010
• 80% of educator enrollment identify as white
• 77% of teachers are female
• Declines in enrollment hit every race

Here is the bright spot

• Alternative preparation programs that are not based in higher education experience a 42% increase in enrollment – which drove a slight uptick in the national enrollment in preparation programs
• Of the 19,158 completers from alternative certification, 12,243 were from Texas. Of that, 6,022 were from Texas Teachers of Tomorrow. We account for 49% of the Texas total and 31% of the National total of teachers certified through alternative certification.
• Men and African American enrollment increased in Texas
• Most states saw an increase in enrollment of Latinx Teachers

The author then profiles two states – Texas and California.  She points out, correctly, that our enrollment has rapidly increased while our completion has not. This is because we have rolling enrollment that only expires after three years. Because we attract career changers into teaching the convenience of completing the program on their own time is critical in recruitment.

She is also the first to point out that there is a study that our teachers performed as well as traditionally trained teachers as it relates to student achievement.  She left out one of the more impressive stats – 72% of our teachers are still teaching after 5 years – an incredible retention rate.

She is also correct – many people enroll and do not complete. They find teaching is not right for them and never apply for a job.  This is a good thing.  The low cost to entry means we attract more people – but some realize this is not the career for them.

The negative she points out is there are some other studies and the union is not fond of alt cert.

So Texas has all these programs – mainly Texas Teachers – and we have rapidly increasing enrollment and very few teacher shortages. Then she highlights California which she seems to support which is doing the usual – scholarships, residency programs, STEM recruiting etc – but she doesn’t point out any impact from these programs. And when you look at the graph, California has had a 48% decline in enrollment in educator preparation programs.

We are very proud of the impact we have had.  We have placed over 7,000 teachers so far this year in 8 states.

And we are just getting started.

The post Rapidly Declining Enrollment in Teacher Preparation – Except Texas! appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

According to the report, 91% of African American and 82% of Hispanic/Latin students trained to teach had student debt compared to just 76% for White students. African American teachers had much higher student debt as well – $26,405 vs $13,662.

Retention of diverse teachers is less than white teachers as well. The theory of the report is that since the financial burden is so high, African American/Black and Hispanic/Latin teachers either cannot afford to take a teaching salary and pay back the loans or take the teaching salary and have to leave because of their student loans.

Note that alternative teacher certification programs like Teachers of Tomorrow, the cost is so much lower we actually see much higher levels of teacher diversity. In our program, only 54% of our teachers are white – much less than the national average.

Cost is most definitely a factor. And we would love to see teacher salaries increased so that student loans are no longer a factor in teacher diversity – but don’t forget about the great teachers that are coming in every day from programs like our!

The post Student Loans Affect Teacher Diversity appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

So it is has never been a better time to be a Texas Teacher! If you were thinking about becoming a teacher, now is really the time.

Still confused about getting into the teaching profession? One of our most popular blog posts is Should I be a Teacher – we provide 24 reasons why teaching is a great profession.

And the Texas legislature added reason number 25 – because they are willing to a pay raise more to teachers starting net year.

We will have the details of the the legislation next week – so more to come!

The post Texas Teacher Pay Raise Passes! appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

Teachers of Tomorrow has had one of the most comprehensive online teacher training programs available that lead to teacher certification.  And now you can take a tour of the program!

Our online curriculum provides teachers the necessary tools to succeed in the classroom. And the way the program is structured and delivered ensures our teachers stay motivated to complete the training.

We hope you will take a look – or share with others who might want to teach.  Each of our state programs is customized to meet all state requirements for teacher certification.

Every child deserves and great teacher and it takes a great curriculum to ensure that teacher is ready.

The post Online Teacher Training appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

Reciprocity for teachers is getting easier, but if you have always wanted to teach in Nevada or Michigan or South Carolina, there has never been a better time to work with us to start your teaching career.

Our expert advisors help you navigate the teacher certification rules in any of the states where we are now approved.

• Texas Teachers
• Florida Teachers of Tomorrow
• Nevada Teachers of Tomorrow
• South Carolina Teachers of Tomorrow
• Indiana Teachers of Tomorrow
• Michigan Teachers of Tomorrow
• Arizona Teachers of Tomorrow

Unlike other programs, we have a state director on the ground in each of these states to make sure we know what our school districts need and to make sure our teachers get hired! We have changed rules in many of these states to remove barriers to the classroom so great people don’t get discouraged and abandon their dream of becoming a teacher.

It is not easy to become an approved educator preparation program in 8 states in 2 years – but we did it. And we did it for one reason – to make sure that every student has a great teacher.

Are you ready to teach?

The post Where do you want to teach? appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

So we are asking for your help – if you know of anyone who has a desire to get into the classroom, we can get them in the program now and get them into teaching very quickly.

Spread the word – Texas and Florida students desperately need bilingual teachers.

The post Texas Desperate for Bilingual Teachers appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

In it he highlights us (the billboard people) and a Texas study that basically showed that there is no statistical difference in student achievement by teacher preparation program.

Essentially – when it comes to helping students, our teachers are as good as teachers coming through standard routes.

Question answered.

The post Student Achievement! appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

Just today we got two new requests for our list of elementary teachers who are ready. That is one of the great things we do – free of charge – we supply lists of our potential teachers who are ready to go.  And school just started and we are getting new requests of lists.

The school district said it is because their student population is significantly higher then they thought! 

As Dr. Matt Ladner pointed out, the student population in many states is growing and the Census estimates that Texas will have 2.2 million new students by 2030.  That is a lot of students which means we need to keep finding a lot of great teachers!!

The post Student Population on the Rise in Texas appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

It would seem to be a much preferred method of getting new teachers the experience they need to improve performance.  But is it practical and do they work?

We are always asked for data about our alternative teacher certification so I went to the National Center for Teacher Residencies and only found survey data and it looks almost exactly like ours. 87% of our principals say our teachers are prepared and 89% of teacher residency principals say they are more prepared (they beat this there on wording). They have 38% teachers of color, we have 46%. They only have 37% of their teachers changing careers, we have almost all of ours and they have 500 total teachers trained and we have over 36,000.

And that is the difference. NCES reports that the US has about 3.55 million teachers of 15% move or leave the profession with 8% completely leaving. That’s 284,000 new teachers needed at a minimum. If you have to pay each $36,000 plus benefits that is $12.3 Billion per year just to fill the 8%. Since they are not teaching their own classroom, you still have to hire teachers to fill the empty classrooms. So that is a true cost and there is no money to provide for that kind of solution. And that doesn’t take into account the costs of running the program – that is just to pay the new teacher for a year.

The point here is that there is no one solution for a problem of this size. You have to have all programs working together to find and train the best talent to ensure our students have the best possible teacher in the classroom.

The post Teacher Residencies – are they the answer appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

Texas Teachers has become the “go-to” team for solving school district recruitment challenges.  And we provide 95% of the teachers for this school. Amazing.

Enjoy and please share the link:

Dear Stephanie:

As always, I would like to personally thank you for the ongoing help that you have provided to our charter school district.  As of today, 95% of our new K-5th grade campus (Texas Serenity Academy-GANO) has been staffed with teachers from your program.  You took the time and provided a tailored candidate list to me and you were patient in working with our Human Resources Department.  The reason I included Mr. Reaser in this email distribution is because I am not sure that he has been made aware of how important you have been to the success and growth of our charter school district.  Because of Texas Teachers and with your networking support here is what we have recently accomplished with the help of the teachers that you referred to us:

• TEA awarded us with our 10-year renewal
• 98% of our 8th graders passed their STAAR Math Test and 100% of our 8th graders passed their STAAR Reading Test and this is without retakes
• 97% of our 5th graders passed their STAAR Math and Reading tests
• TEA approved for our school district to open our second campus in August 2016 which is a K-5th Grade campus
• We have consistently made FIRST RATING and MET THE STATE STANDARD

In short,  your teachers teach!  You guys are awesome.  I just felt Mr. Reaser as the President of your company should be made aware of how good of job that you do.  You take the time and go far and above whatever your job description states.

Thank you.

Larry Jenkins

Asst. Superintendent/Human Resources Director

Texas Serenity Academy Charter Schools

The post Our “Teachers Teach” appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

“I loved using this ACP! Any questions I had, and I had lots, I was able to call and get answers quickly. My mentor was fantastic, he was always an email or phone call away. I felt prepared to teach and prepared for the exams I needed to take. I know of several people that went to school and majored in education and had trouble passing the comps and PPR, I passed both on the first try!”

And this one from Sabiha Peer after earning her standard teaching certification:

“I wanted to thank all of you at Texas Teachers for helping me and supporting me to become a certified teacher. Thankfully I have passed my PPR Exam and have got my Standard Certificate.

Thank you for all the help I received from you. Whenever I called the office  I was attended to so patiently and all my emails were so promptly answered!

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND COOPERATION!  I TRULY APPRECIATE IT!!!”

The prevailing themes of these letters are that our teachers are prepared and fully supported leading to teaching success!!  We love these letters for our teachers in the field.

The post Teacher Success appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I chose Texas Teachers in order to obtain my certification. Texas Teachers prepared me well not only for the classroom but also for the required testing. I passed everything on the first try and my first year teaching went smoothly!

Thank you so much!

Christina Howard

The post Texas Teachers! appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.