New Marian apprenticeship program targets Indiana teacher shortage
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Marian University is launching a new apprenticeship program aimed at addressing Indiana’s growing teacher shortage.
The Grow Your Own Teacher Apprenticeship Program is designed to support current non-licensed school employees—instructional aides, paraprofessionals and support staff—in grades K-6 by giving them a pathway to become licensed teachers.
“We know that we have many schools that are struggling to fill all their classrooms,” said Lee Ann Kwiatkowski, dean of the Klipsch Educators College at Marian. “We’ve heard from principals that they have some outstanding instructional assistants in classrooms that they would love to get up in front of classrooms. So this really will solve both of those.”
Marian says the fully online program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and allows participants to continue working in their schools while completing coursework.
“It will give those [individuals] opportunities to really climb that career ladder give them more opportunities…and it will put great teachers in front of students,” Kwiatkowski said.
The program will integrate clinical observation hours into the participants’ current roles at their school as a means to leverage their day-to-day classroom experience, the university said. They can then complete their coursework outside of school hours.
Kwiatkowski said the program is launching as a pilot this fall with about 14 participants, but they have heard from several school districts interested in getting members of their staff involved.
She said the potential for growth within the program is very high, particularly in smaller areas of the state.
“Think about rural communities where they struggle with keeping some of some of the students that go to college going back home,” she said. “They may have someone that has lived there and never wants to leave and go anywhere else. This will give them the opportunity to help them become a teacher.”
Marian said students with an associate degree or equivalent credit hours can complete the program in about two years, meeting all requirements for both a bachelor’s degree from Marian and Indiana state teacher licensure in elementary education.
You can learn more about the program by clicking here.