PITTSBURGH (TNS) — High schoolers could soon take on the role of teachers through a new program that will allow students to explore possible careers in education while giving them classroom experience.

The K-12 teacher education course, which could be implemented at participating school districts as early as next year, will be part of career and technical education offerings. Through class options, students will be introduced to the teaching profession and gain hands-on experience through things such as classroom observations.

The program aims to filter students into the teacher pipeline following high school graduation as Pennsylvania continues to see fewer teaching certifications issued.

“I applaud the program,” Sherri Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, said. “I think it’s great. It’s never been more timely for us to have such an opportunity for our students.”

Curriculum was discussed during a January state board of education meeting. There, Tomás Hanna, the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s chief talent officer, said the goal is to expose teaching careers to young learners while also incentivizing men and people of color to enter into the profession, Philadelphia-based WHYY-FM radio station reported.

“We’re not saying that a senior in high school is going to come out teaching in our schools,” Hanna said during the meeting. “What we’re saying is we have to get young people into the profession and aware of the profession earlier.”

The program comes as the number of teaching certifications in Pennsylvania have rapidly declined. Pennsylvania in 2010 issued about 15,000 new in-state teacher certifications. That number plummeted to just more than 5,000 for the 2020-21 school year, according to data from the state’s education department.

Additionally, during the 2018-19 school year, almost 94% of teachers were white. Only 4% were Black and 1% were Latino, according to The Education Trust. Less than 1% were Asian or multiracial.

That means that roughly 6% of teachers were people of color, compared to 35% of students.

During the January meeting, Hanna stressed the importance of showing students of color that teaching is a possible career path. He said teaching has historically been promoted to white women, and that people of color don’t think about entering the profession until later in life.

Andrew Christ, managing director of government affairs at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, applauded the program for potentially increasing the number of students pursuing an education degree. He noted that to see teacher diversity grow, it needs to be available in schools with higher numbers of minority students.

“I think the incentive and being able to start working toward your college degree while you’re in high school is appealing to a lot of students,” Christ said. “So hopefully kids that do have an interest in the teaching field will at least explore this potential new program of study.”

As the program stands, interested school districts could implement classes in their building or at partnering career and technical institutes.

Smith said the program will likely model traditional career and technical courses where students learn about the vocation before receiving hands-on training. It allows high schoolers the chance to explore a career path before graduation and determine whether they want to pursue it in college.

It will be up to school districts to decide if they will implement the program, Christ said. He noted that several other “grow your own” programs have sprouted up across the nation in recent years to help fill teaching positions.

Educators Rising, which follows a similar blueprint to the proposed Pennsylvania program, is a career and technical student organization that integrates learning opportunities into existing education and training programs. The program is not yet available in the state. Similarly, Teach Plus, which has programs in Pennsylvania, works to address the need for teacher leadership.

The School District of Philadelphia last year also created its own program with pandemic relief funds that helps district paraprofessionals earn teaching credentials.

In Pennsylvania, the education CTE program is based on similar initiatives in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, among others.

Still, Christ suggested there could be some roadblocks in obtaining funding to cover program costs, finding classroom space and having enough teachers.

He stressed that the program could be “a key piece in helping fill that pipeline, but we still need to be looking at some other solutions” to ensure students complete teaching programs.

“I think the problem is larger than just getting more kids interested, but that’s definitely a key component,” Mr. Christ said. “We do have to make sure these students can get through the pipeline, complete the process and actually get into classrooms.”

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