American Indian Big Sky Projects
Montana State University, Billings

Big Sky Projects’ “primary mission is to advocate for Native Americans through recruitment, retention, multicultural curriculum enrichment, and the provision of culturally appropriate student support services for Native students entering and enhancing their teaching profession. . . . Big Sky has assisted 54 students in becoming teachers from the Career Ladder, Teacher & Personnel, and Indian Professional Development (IPD) Projects.  Currently, Big Sky Projects have two IPD projects; Teacher Education for All in Montana (TEAM) and Indian Education Implementation for All (IEDIA).”
Home page:   http://www.msubillings.edu/bighornteacherproj/

San Francisco, California

“Breakthrough Collaborative is a national non-profit that increases educational opportunity for high-potential, low-income middle school students and inspires outstanding college and high school students to pursue careers in education.  Consistently featured as a Top Ten Internship by the Princeton Review, Breakthrough’s innovative ‘Students Teaching Students’ model partners middle-school students with college and high school students who serve as teachers, role models and mentors, providing real-life examples that it’s ‘cool to be smart,’  Breakthrough boasts a proven ripple effect of positive results: 82% of Breakthrough student alumni are accepted to college preparatory programs and 72% of Breakthrough teachers . . . go on to pursue professional careers in education.”
Home page:  http://www.breakthroughcollaborative.org/

Call Me MISTER
Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University,
Clemson, South Carolina

Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

“The overriding goal of the Latino and Language Minority Teacher Projects (L2mtp) is to increase the number of Latinos(as) and language minorities in the teaching profession by creating a career track for practicing language minority paraeducators.  The primary strategy in achieving this goal is to provide support and assistance, financially, socially and academically to promising paraeducators to enable them to successfully complete a teacher education program and become successful bilingual teachers.
Home page:    http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~cmmr/LTP.html

Minority Education Association:  Promoting Recruitment and Retention of Diverse
Participants in Preservice Teacher Preparation
College of Education, University of Kentucky

The purposes of this organization at the University of Kentucky are to: “(a) provide for the social and professional development of education majors; (b) network with students in other colleges; (c) serve as support for minority students by establishing a Student Mentor Program for education majors; (d) aid in the recruitment and retention of minority students; (e) raise the level of esteem for educators through pride exhibited in the profession; (f) empower minority students; and (g) lay the groundwork for becoming active alumni of the college. . . . The Minority Education Association promotes the  recruitment and retention of minorities in education through middle and high school mentoring, guides teacher education program students, and facilitates employment upon graduation.”
Minority Education Association:  http://www.uky.edu/Education/Diversity/MinEduAssoc.html

National Board Certification Support Program
National Alliance of Black School Educators, Washington DC.

“In June 2003, the Education Trust and MetLife Foundation established the National Center for Transforming School Counseling (NCTSC).  This Center continues the work supported by the Dewitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund and MetLife Foundation to ensure school counselors across the country are trained and ready to help ALL groups of students reach high academic standards. . . . The NCTSC is a nation-wide network of organizations, state departments of education, school counselor professional associations, institutions of higher education and school districts currently involved in the transforming school counseling initiative.  Through the center, the networked sites form a community of influence to transform the field of school counseling into a force for promoting standards-based education reform.  The National Center for Transforming School Counseling will place practicing school counselors at the heart of the new mission of schools – to educate ALL students to high levels.”  The National Initiative includes (a) professional development modules that are closely aligned with the American School Counselor Association’s National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs and (b) a major component on transforming school counselor preservice preparation in higher education institutions.
National Center for Transforming School Counseling: Home page
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Transforming+School+Counseling/main
Professional Development:
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Transforming+School+Counseling/Metlife.htm
Transforming School Counselor Preparation:
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Transforming+School+Counseling/rationale.htm

National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education & Related Services
A Coalition of National Organizations, Institutions, Centers, and Agencies

“The mission of the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services is to sustain a discussion among all stakeholders on the need for and value of special education, related services, and early intervention -- and to identify, disseminate, and support implementation of national, State, and local strategies to remedy personnel shortages and persistent vacancies for the benefit of all children and youth.”  This is a new website which offers data and resources to help you recruit and retain quality personnel.
Home page:   http://www.specialedpros.com/


New Teacher Center
University of California, Santa Cruz

“The New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national resource focused on teacher and administrator induction. . . . The NTC rests its foundation upon the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project, established in 1988 as a systematic, mentor-based teacher induction model.  In working with new teachers and, more recently, new principals, the NTC induction programs help novices not only to survive their early years, but to emerge as confident, skilled professionals.”  The website offers articles, monographs, research abstracts, and other materials.
Home page:   http://www.newteachercenter.org/


New Teacher Project
New York City

Project MUST:  Mentoring Urban Students for Teaching
Department of Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt School of Culture,
Education and Human Development, New York University, New York City.

“Project MUST is located at a New York City high school, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, a school with a predominantly African-American and Latino population. The Project's major goals are to (a) provide support to inner-city secondary school youth to stay in school, enhance their communication and problem-solving skills, and strengthen their self-confidence and self-esteem to pursue college studies; and (b) encourage high school students to consider careers in teaching and other human service professions.   The program involves approximately 18 high school juniors who participate in a twice weekly seminar based on the Department of Teaching and Learning's introductory teacher education course, Inquiries into Teaching and Learning.  A doctoral student recruited from an underrepresented ethnic or cultural group, functions as the Mentor and as a role model for the students.  Among other components of the program, the participants assist in classrooms at the River East School, located in the Manhattan Center building, go on field trips to a variety of institutions where teaching and learning occur, and observe an NYU Inquiries class.”
Home page:   http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/teachlearn/must

San Francisco, California

“RISE believes that it is not enough to teach low-income children -- one must teach them well.  Using a research-based, groundbreaking ‘value added" assessment tool, RISE sidesteps the ideological and academic debate about which test is the best measure of student achievement.  Instead, teacher applicants provide quantitative data about student learning results at the beginning and end of a given school year.  RISE Teachers are those who demonstrate that their students are making significant academic progress. . . RISE reduces recruitment time and attrition costs, because it pre-screens effective teachers who have established a commitment to emerging public schools.” . . . RISE offers teachers: (a) access to job opportunities at 70 pre-screened RISE partner schools; (b) financial resources (discounts at major retailers; cash awards for second to fifth-year teachers whose student data demonstrate that their students are making more than a year’s worth of growth);  and (c) a professional development network connecting effective teachers dedicated to teaching low-income students.”
Home page:   http://www.risenetwork.org/teachers.html

Sapsik’walá Program
Native American Initiative, College of Education. University of Oregon
In Partnership with Nine Federally Recognized Tribes in the State of Oregon

The Sapsik’walá Program program is a scholarship master’s degree program to benefit and train American Indian students to become professional educators.  Qualified applicants choose an elementary, middle school, or high school level teacher education program at the University of Oregon College of Education. Sapsik’walá Program Scholarship recipients receive tuition and fees, a monthly stipend, and a book allowance. Students will also be provided admissions and advisement support. . . . The program includes a full year of support services when (graduates) begin teaching: provision of a mentor, formative evaluations of  teaching, support for attendance at a professional conference, cohort seminar meetings, on-site consulting, an electronic distribution and discussion list, and on-line consultation and website conferencing.”
Overview:   http://education.uoregon.edu/field.htm?id=71
Details:   http://education.uoregon.edu/degree.htm?id=61&field_name=
Community partners: http://education.uoregon.edu/feature.htm?id=509
University of Oregon Native American Initiative:  http://longhouse.uoregon.edu/

South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA)
Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Established by the Commission on Higher Education and Funded by the
South Carolina General Assembly

“The Teacher Cadet Program is an innovative approach designed to attract talented young people to the teaching profession through a challenging introduction to teaching. The Program seeks to provide high school students insight into the nature of teaching, the problems of schooling and the critical issues affecting the quality of education in America's schools.   Piloted in four high schools in South Carolina in 1985-86, the Teacher Cadet Program has grown to include approximately 155 South Carolina high schools serving over 2,500 academically-able high school junior and seniors annually.  The honors level, college credit course is taught one class period per day for a year or the equivalent of that amount of time in contact hours.”  Experiencing Education is a curriculum written and revised by Teacher Cadet instructions, with an accompanying Instructor’s Manual.  The curriculum has three themes: (a) Experiencing the Learner; (b) Experiencing the Profession; and (c) Experiencing the Classroom.  Training also includes three supplemental curricula for science, math, and foreign language, and a variety of hands-on activities and a strong emphasis on observations and field experiences.  “Twenty-four of South Carolina's 30 colleges and universities with teacher education programs provide support to the Teacher Cadet sites, (and) nearly 100% of the college partners grant college credit and/or accept college credit for satisfactory completion of the course. . . . External evaluations of the Teacher Cadet Program have confirmed that the program is an effective tool for recruiting students who are high academic achievers into the teaching profession.  An average of 37 percent of all students who have taken part in the Teacher Cadet Program over the years indicate plans to pursue teaching credentials upon entering college.  Of the 2004-2005 Cadet class, 37 percent plan to enter teaching, according to the post-course survey.  Education was selected significantly more often as a career choice than any other career option. Responses indicate that more than approximately 700 Teacher Cadets each year plan to pursue teaching upon entering college.”  (CERRA also operates several other programs.)
CERRA’s home page:   http://www.cerra.org/
Teacher Cadets:   http://www.cerra.org/teacherCadets


Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant
Program
U.S. Department of Education.

“Through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, Congress created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program that provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. . . . In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, the individual must agree to serve as a 
full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students . . . for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which the TEACH grant was received. . . . The first TEACH Grants were awarded to eligible students for the 
2008-2009 school year.”
Overview and click for fact sheet:
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/TEACH.jsp


Teacher Licensure Scholarship Program
Tom Joyner Foundation, Dallas, Texas, and
National Education Association, Washington DC.

In February 2008, “Tom Joyner, the nationally syndicated radio personality and philanthropist, today announced a new $1.1 million grant with the National Education Association to increase the number of fully certified teachers in minority and hard-to-staff schools across the country.  The Tom Joyner Foundation-National Education Association Teacher Licensure Scholarship Program will bring six new historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) on board as part of the program’s expansion: Alabama A&M University; Howard University, Washington, DC; LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis, TN; Mississippi Valley State University; Norfolk State University; and Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX.  In addition, the scholarship program will continue on the campuses of four HBCUs:  Cheyney University of Pennsylvania; Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA.; Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, MO.; and Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC. . . . Over the last three years, the partnership has provided hundreds of minority teachers with funding and technical support for workshops, coursework, materials, individual tutoring and examination fees to prepare them to pass state licensing examinations. During Phase II, the goal is to assist upwards of 1,000 teachers in high-minority, urban and suburban school districts as they pursue full licensure.”
NEA overview:   http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2008/nr080204.html

Troops to Teachers & Spouses to Teachers
Defense Activities for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES)
U.S. Department of Defense

 “Troops to Teachers provides Referral Assistance and Placement services to military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher. The DANTES Troops-to-Teachers office will help applicants identify teacher certification requirements, programs leading to certification, and employment opportunities. . . . In most states, Troops to Teachers does not train or certify teachers, but rather helps you to find and enter the programs that do. Then, if you are eligible, Troops to Teachers provides financial assistance in the form of stipends or bonuses.”  Troops-to Teachers mentors and State Assistance Offices are available across the country.   Spouses to Teachers is a Department of Defense project designed to assist spouses of active duty and reserve military members to become public school teachers.”
Troops to Teachers: http://www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/troopstoteachers/index.asp?Flag=True
Spouses to Teachers:   http://www.spousestoteachers.com/


Urban Educator Corps
Urban Serving Communities: A Consortium of 17 Public Urban Universities

“The mission of the Urban Educator Corps is to improve student academic performance and reduce achievement gaps by promoting recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention of high quality teachers and administrators for high-need urban schools.  The Urban Educator Corps is the educational initiative of the Urban Serving Universities, a consortium of 17 public urban universities which together prepare over 20% of the nation's future urban educators. . . . All Urban Educator Corps initiatives are designed to build on the strengths of the network, to reinforce the work of the P-16 Partnerships and Community Teams, and address the unique needs and opportunities of teacher preparation in an urban setting.”
Home page:  http://www.ed.uab.edu/uec/

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