In Conversation: How CTAC Is Helping the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Create a Sustainable Educator Pipeline
For over 50 years, Knowledge Alliance (KA) members have worked collectively to ensure that evidence-based resources are driving policy change in education. In July, KA released an issue brief highlighting how member organizations are addressing the educator shortage with State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs). In this blog, KA’s summer intern, Julianna Collado, met with Bill Slotnik and Guodong Liang from Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) to learn more about their project in Missouri to address the educator shortage and create a robust and sustainable plan to recruit and retain educators, particularly those that identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Excerpts of this conversation are below.
Bill Slotnik, Chief Executive Officer, CTAC
Collado: Can you begin by explaining the CTAC project with Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MODESE)?
Slotnik: This project is supported by a contract with the MODESE which is making a $50 million investment from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to catalyze innovative ways to create a sustainable educator pipeline in Missouri. Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs), Community Colleges (CCs), and LEAs are all eligible to apply for funds. This 27-month initiative is the broadest experiment in the nation advancing teacher recruitment and retention at a state level. We are 3 months into this 27-month process and have already reviewed hundreds of grants applications from EPPs, CCs, and LEAs.
Collado: So, you have just completed Phase 1 of this process, what are some of the initial findings? Are there trends in the grant applications you have already reviewed?
Guodong Liang, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, CTAC
Liang: Our Phase I evaluation focuses on reviewing grant applications from EPPs, CCs, and LEAs, and building a baseline understanding of the strategies selected. For educator recruitment, MODESE supports grantees through four areas of activities: (a) partnerships; (b) recruitment and selection; (c) preparation and support; and (d) evaluation. These activities contribute to building a robust, diverse, and sustainable teacher pipeline. For educator retention, MODESE provides a number of research-based retention strategies that applicants should consider. Most of the grant applications are using the MODESE-recommended strategies to address the teacher shortage broadly, but also in particular shortage areas like male and/or BIPOC educators.
Collado: That is a great example of how CTAC is helping MODESE use evidence-based practices. From the grant applications you’ve reviewed, were there any examples that were particularly creative that you would like to share?
Slotnik: I’ll give you an example from a rural district, where the school district really is the lifeblood of the community. Missouri is like many parts of the country where high school football is considered a really big deal, so they typically host a special signing day event for high school seniors committing to play college football. Inspired by this practice, this LEA is hosting a signing day to bring visibility and appreciation for students who decide they want to study to become educators. That’s something that can make a significant difference in a rural community, where if they don’t have a vibrant school district, they’re not going to have such a strong community.
Collado: Do you think this MODESE initiative is something that could have happened without ESSER funds?
Slotnik: The ESSER funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act and other COVID-19 relief bills, as you know, have been the single largest stimulus we’ve ever really had at one point in public education, which enabled Missouri to conduct this initiative at such a large statewide scale. There’s no question about the importance of the ARP support. But MODESE has also been leveraging multiple funding sources together to ensure key initiatives can continue long-term. For example, we have conducted a detailed review of the Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS) through the Region 12 Comprehensive Center (R12CC) and we know this project is supported by Title I, Title IIA, Special Education and Early Childhood funding. They also have private sector philanthropic support. Right now, MODESE is using ESSER resources to catalyze innovation. This is a state that really understands the spirit of what ESSER was trying to accomplish. This is a state that realizes we’re facing a crisis, and how to get ahead of the crisis.
About CTAC’s work in the Region 12 Comprehensive Center
The R12CC serving Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri, is one of 19 federally funded regional Comprehensive Centers across the nation that help SEAs implement, scale, and sustain evidence-based programs, practices, and interventions that support improved educator and student outcomes. CTAC collaborates with these SEAs through the R12CC to provide high quality technical assistance, build collaborative relationships, support LEAs to make systemic changes, and disseminate research-based practices.
Related Work
Implementing with Fidelity and Impact: An Evaluation of the Missouri Leadership Development System
About Julianna Collado. Ms. Collado is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where she majored in Public Policy and minored in Latina/o Studies. In college, she held executive positions in the student organization La Casa, participated in the UnidosUS Afro-Latinx Lideres Avanzando Fellowship, and worked multiple campus jobs in the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs and Office of Academic and Multicultural Initiatives. She is excited to be pursuing her Master’s in Education Policy at the University of Texas, Austin in the fall of 2022.