The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently announced collaborative awards for the Ohio Grant Program addressing educator shortage. Awards totaling $5.2 million will be shared among 29 four-year public and independent colleges and universities that have chancellor-approved educator preparation programs, including those in collaboration with school districts, educational service centers, and community colleges.
Wittenberg was awarded $130,000 from the Ohio Grant Program for the Springfield Teacher Education Pathway (STEP) Project in collaboration with Clark State College and the Springfield City School District (SCSD).
“This is great news,” said Brian Yontz, associate professor of education and chair of the department. “The STEP project is essentially a partnership between Wittenberg, Clark State, and the Springfield City School District to increase the diversity of a number of teachers Wittenberg prepares to be hired in the SCSD and other school districts across the state.”
Wittenberg, Clark State, and the SCSD have a long history of collaboration and are in a critical period to sustain influence on the learning and development of children in the community and the grant will help in these areas.
“We are facing an existential threat by not having enough educators to engage in this work,” Yontz added. “The Springfield educational community is experiencing trends that are occurring nationally in teacher preparation. Our nation (and local community) has seen a decrease in traditional educator preparation program enrollment over the past decade.”
This project is designed to utilize newly launched transfer agreements between Clark State and Wittenberg to produce more educators for the SCSD. By investing in these preservice teachers who already have a connection with the Springfield community, the partners anticipate an increase in the number of diverse, well-prepared educators who will impact the children and adolescents in the SCSD in the near future and, hopefully, for years to come.
Wittenberg and the SCSD have a formal partnership agreement that is focused on the education of educators and opportunities for College Credit Plus coursework. Wittenberg and Clark State have formal articulation agreements for obtaining teacher licensure. Clark State and the SCSD have a long history of partnership as well. The management team for the STEP project will include one individual from each entity, and this group will meet three times a year to assure the program processes are completed.
“Perhaps most important to this project is the near perfect laboratory the Springfield City School District provides for teacher preparation,” Yontz said. “The SCSD has outstanding educators who serve as exceptional mentors for those studying to enter the classroom. The SCSD serves approximately 7,000 students with over 500 certificated staff members. The student population of the SCSD is primarily economically disadvantaged children and adolescents and is exactly 50 percent non-white.
“The SCSD’s outward focus toward producing graduates who are effective communicators, collaborative, resilient, financially independent, and contribute to community provides the model that the next generation of teachers need exposure to for developing a lifelong commitment to educating the youth of Ohio,” Yontz added. “But, like other public school districts across the nation, the SCSD is in need of more educators at all levels. As of February 10, 2022, the SCSD has 17 discrete teaching positions posted for employment, with most centering around the primary and intervention specialist licensure areas. The STEP project will increase the number of teachers—as they are being prepared in a diverse and welcoming school district.”
The STEP project invests in students who first enroll at Clark State, transfer to Wittenberg’s teacher education program, and then ultimately are developed by and for employment in the SCSD. Currently, 20 percent of all Wittenberg students are from Clark County and 39.2 percent of all students come from Clark or two adjacent counties. This project targets students who have existing ties to the Springfield/Clark County area and are likely to remain in this region as professional educators. Likewise, a goal of the STEP project is to increase the recruitment of high-quality teacher candidates from diverse backgrounds, fitting the mission of Wittenberg University.
Wittenberg has a long history of preparing outstanding educators through its nationally accredited teacher education program that produces candidates that show a 95 percent passage rate on all Ohio licensure exams, performance assessments that exceed the national average, and consistent positive evaluations by school district employers.
Funding for the STEP project will be primarily used for scholarships for Clark State students who have earned the associate of applied science (AA) and wish to transfer to Wittenberg to complete their P-5 primary license and/or the intervention specialist license. Beginning in Spring 2022 (and again in Spring 2023), students who are enrolled in their final year of the AA program at Clark State will be informed and advised of this option, and will be given information on how to continue their work toward becoming a professional teacher at Wittenberg.
Each student participating in the STEP project in 2022-23 and 2023-24 will be provided an annual scholarship toward Wittenberg tuition and fees. Wittenberg will guarantee that the students who remain enrolled in the teacher education program, beyond the summer of 2024, will be provided an equivalent scholarship until the completion of the program.
Professional development curriculum, recruitment strategies, and lessons learned throughout this project will be important to disseminate to other K-12 school districts, institutions of higher education, and relevant professional associations.
