School systems across the country are experiencing significant challenges with respect to hiring school-based positions such as teachers and school leaders. The nature of these positions, often requiring coursework and formal licensure, means that there isn’t really a quick fix – you simply can’t rectify a talent shortage like this overnight.
In response to these challenges, school systems are getting creative and acknowledging that they need to do everything they can in the short term while also investing in longer-term strategies. One of these longer-term strategies is what is popularly known as a Grow Your Own (GYO) program. While these programs can have several different implementation models, they typically engage current employees or community members and facilitate their development and licensure into full-time teachers or school leaders. (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northwest/pdf/strategies-for-educators.pdf)
Broadly speaking, there are 4 general GYO models:
Outsourced model – you simply find and pay another organization with the requisite expertise to create and run your program.
Customized Partnership – you collaborate with a third party, often a university or licensure organization, to tailor an existing program to fit your needs.
District-Facilitated Program of Aligned Supports – the school system facilitates opportunities for career exploration, professional learning, targeted supports, and incentives that staff can access at various points in their career journey (e.g. before committing to a licensure program, while enrolled in a program, during student teaching and novice years, etc.).
In-house certification – create and run your own licensure program (there are few states that offer this potential opportunity.)
While a GYO program represents a sizable investment (there can be federal and state funding available), it offers potentially significant benefits. First, GYO programs often allow a school system to dramatically diversify its talent pool. For school systems that might struggle to recruit teachers that are representative of their students, this can be a recruitment and hiring game changer. Secondly, in collaboration with institutes of higher education, a school system can tailor the learning experiences of their GYO participants in ways that are optimally aligned to the specific cultural and pedagogical practices of the school system. In theory, a GYO program can allow a school system to hire a more diverse, better-prepared cohort of teachers every single year.
For someone looking to explore potentially designing and implementing a GYO it might seem overwhelming. Here are some tips and resources to get you started:
Engage your stakeholders and community
Understand your recruitment and hiring challenges to identify where a GYO program could have the most outsized impact
Define a program design team that includes both content experts and staffing team members
Spend some time identifying the assets you have within your school system and community – what types of development do you have to build on? Are there school or implementation models that you can leverage for placement or role development?
If you would like to learn more about GYO or how Torace can support a GYO program, email [email protected].
