Interested in “growing your own” teachers?
Districts can find motivated, well-qualified teacher candidates by supporting and mobilizing local community members such as paraeducators, career changers, and young people to enter the teaching profession. The resources below will help you gather information to grow your own teachers, including curriculum, tools, templates, and research.
Teacher pathways and GYO program resources
- PESB, GYO educator infrastructure grant in the road map region (2022)
- PESB, Grow Your Own teacher report (2017)
- PESB, Strategies to address the teacher shortage and strengthen the pipeline, AWSP/WSPA summer conference (2016)
- PESB, Bilingual teacher pipeline work group products (2016)
- Brookings Report, High hopes and harsh realities: the real challenges to building a diverse workforce (2016)
- Education First, Ensuring high-quality teacher talent (2016)
- APA, Keeping up with the kids: increasing minority teacher representation in Colorado (2014)
- Illinois Grow Your Own Teachers, Formative evaluation and preliminary recommendations (2011)
- Evaluation of the DeWitt Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund’s Pathway to Teaching Careers Program (2001)
- Recruiting New Teachers, Inc., A guide to developing paraeducator-to-teacher programs (2000)
The need
- PESB, Bilingual teacher pipeline workgroup executive summary (2016)
- PESB, GYO recommendations: policies, funding, and programmatic (2016)
- PESB, Bilingual teacher pipeline project data exploration (2016)
- New America, Policy papers on multilingual paraeducators and dual language learners (2016)
- PESB, Helping paraeducators become teachers (2015)
- OSPI, Washington State’s ensuring equitable access to excellent educator initiative plan (2015)
- PESB, Report addressing the recurring problem of teacher shortages (2015)
- CEDR, Educator and student diversity in Washington State: gaps and historical trends (2015)
- MELL, Dual language programs expanding in Washington (2014)
- NCES, U.S. Department of Education, projection of education statistics to 2022 (2014)
Alternative routes
- Alternative routes to teacher certification
- Becoming an educator preparation program provider
- List of alternative route program providers
- Policy on Alternative Routes to Certification (WAC 181-80, formerly RCW 28A.660.040)
- NEA, Research spotlight on Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification (2020)
Teaching academy
- Recruiting Washington Teachers from high school
- Starting a teacher academy: Starter toolkit and curriculum
- Recruiting Washington Teachers redesign workgroup (2016)
Strategies and tools
GYO infrastructure district templates
- GYO self assessment template (2022)
- GYO action plan template (2022)
- GYO strategic plan template (2022)
- GYO annual progress report template (2022)
Job descriptions, programs, and policies to support GYO
- Seattle Public Schools contingent offer of employment (2017-18)
- Seattle Public Schools letter of intent (2017-18)
- Highline RFP Alt Route Block Grant request for partnership (2017)
- Edmonds School District Teacher education advancement coordinator job description (2016)
- Federal Way Public Schools Letter to high school students who complete the teacher academy requirements (2016)
- Highline School District and Western Washington fellowship program for paraeducators, Woodring-Highline bilingual fellow program flyer
- Highline School District paraeducator fellowship program information session (2016)
- Highline School District language resolution (2016)
- WSSDA sample 4218 language access plan
Assessing the demand
- PESB, District teacher pipeline and GYO interview/self assessment (2016)
- Paraeducator/staff potential teacher survey questions
- District and school data team toolkit
- OSPI, Washington State Report Card, district demographics
Recruitment, marketing, and selection
- TNTP, Recruit and select candidates that match your school hiring needs
- PESB, Recruiting diverse teachers report
- National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Recruiting quality mathematics, science, and special education teachers for urban and rural schools (2006)
Development and retention
- PESB, Recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in teacher preparation programs (2015)
- CSTP, Teacher retention and mobility (2005)
