Using Registered Apprenticeship to Build a Sustainable Teacher Workforce
Description
The Maine Departments of Labor and Education are supporting Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs (RTAP) as a sustainable "Grow Your Own" pipeline for people who aspire to be teachers. A Registered Teacher Apprentice is a full time instructional employee of a school district who is completing teacher certification requirements as part of their employment with the guidance of a professional teacher mentor. The school district partners with a postsecondary education provider for training and instruction that accompany the on the job learning and meet teacher certification requirements. RTAPs have potential for rural districts to identify people in their communities who want to be educators and provide them with mentored employment and a pathway to teacher certification to join that community's teacher workforce. RTAPs include pre-apprenticeship, which is a program to enable high school students interested in teaching to participate in an apprenticeship-like experience. The University of Southern Maine is currently a post secondary partner with schools in Washington and Oxford Counties offering Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs, including pre-apprenticeship. This poster session will describe (a) the structure of an RTAP, (b) describe the roles of apprentice, employing school district, and postsecondary training and instruction provider, and (c ) resources available for RTAPs.