WVU focuses on location for new teacher recruitment and retention effort

Taking steps toward strengthening the teaching workforce in the Mountain State, West Virginia University will address critical staffing shortages among educators and enhance teacher preparation programs by building connections through an innovative, place-based approach.

Funded with more than $1.6 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization or POWER Initiative, the three-year project will be led by the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences, in partnership with the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative, and the WVU Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, and will integrate three complementary pathways to recruit, prepare, place, and retain teachers in schools and communities across West Virginia.

"Preparing and retaining great teachers is one of the most important investments we can make in the future of West Virginia," Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Wendland said.

"This grant builds momentum for WVU teacher preparation programs while creating new pathways for talented people to enter and grow in the profession. By investing in educators and connecting them with communities across our state, we can strengthen schools and communities for generations to come. This is exactly the kind of impact a land-grant university should have."

The Take Me Home Teacher Residency Pathway will enable undergraduate teacher education students to complete their final year of clinical experiences in their home communities, building connections where they are most likely to stay and grow as professionals.

"West Virginia faces a shortage of nearly 1,200 certified teachers, and this grant lets us respond to that at scale," said Nathan Sorber, interim dean for the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences.

"This is what it means to be a land-grant university serving Appalachia: bringing our research, expertise, partnerships, and educational mission together to solve the challenges facing our communities. Putting highly qualified, well-prepared educators in classrooms is one of the most consequential investments we can make in the future of our state."

For trained school employees already in classrooms, the Paraprofessional-to-Teaching Pathway will provide those who have associate's degrees opportunities to earn bachelor's degrees in elementary education through specialized distance learning so they can become certified teachers in the communities where they already live and work.

"This program works from multiple directions at once, and using this ARC investment will help people from West Virginia communities stay in them, and encourage people from outside the state to put down roots here," said Matthew Campbell, interim director of the CAHS School of Education and Counseling and project director for what is one of the largest grants in the School's history.

"Whether someone is an undergraduate, an already-licensed teacher not currently employed in West Virginia, or a paraprofessional already working in a school, there's a path built for where they are. It also puts the School of Education and Counseling's research on rural teacher recruitment and retention directly to work."

Through the grant, the WVPEC Teachers Ascend Program, which is already operating in Monongalia and Preston counties, will launch expanded teacher recruitment efforts in Morgan and Berkeley counties.

"The WVPEC's Teacher Ascend initiative helps address West Virginia's teacher shortage by leveraging our state's strengths while fostering meaningful connections and a strong sense of community," said Director Donna Hoylman Peduto. "Educators will have access to incentives designed to support both career advancement and quality of life, including funding for professional growth, recreational opportunities, and community-building events."

Created to support 120 teachers in its first three years, each of the program's three elements are designed to make connections between educators and rural communities across West Virginia to build essential infrastructure in support of long-term educational success for teachers, their students, and the state.

Additional funding support will be provided through the Benedum Foundation, the Steeley Foundation, and cost-matching from the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences and the WVU School of Education and Counseling.

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