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Grow Your Own Programs
The intent of a Grow Your Own (GYO) program is to recruit new educators from the community to teach in their local schools. Often these programs are geared towards high school, or even middle school students, to both increase their interest and prepare them for a career in teaching. GYO programs can also target paraprofessionals, teaching assistants, school staff, family members, and members of the community to become certified teachers.
GYO programs offer middle and high school students an excellent pathway not only into a meaningful career, but also into postsecondary education. GYOs can provide students with college credit coursework and build college ready skills. Further, these programs can be an extremely useful tool in diversifying the teacher pipeline. Instilling in middle and high school students that they have the skills and abilities to become the future of education is not only beneficial to the student, but also their community.
This list is not exhaustive, but rather illustrates the similarities in program structures from the field.
Dual Enrollment
GYO programs often include dual enrollment coursework in collaboration with an institution of higher education (IHE). The number of credits awarded can differ. Title IV can be used to fund dual enrollment courses for students. Dual enrollment can also be funded through Perkins, however, your GYO program would need to become a Career and Technical Education (CTE) approved program.
Newark Public Schools & Montclair State University: Red Hawks Rising
Newark Public Schools and Montclair State University, in partnership with the Newark Board of Education and the American Federation of Teachers, created the Red Hawks Rising: Dual Enrollment Program. This program offers high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses, at no cost, that will apply towards a degree at Montclair State University. Students are introduced to a career in teaching and are guaranteed an offer of admission to Montclair State University’s Teacher Education Program, after graduation and upon meeting all course and admission requirements.
Career & Technical Education
Some GYO programs may become a CTE approved program. CTE is an educational option that provides students the opportunity to earn industry-valued credentials, college credit, and workplace experiences incorporating a rigorous academic core coupled with a high-level technical curriculum. Additional information about CTE programs can be found on the New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of Career Readiness website.
Morris County Vocational School District
Morris County Vocational School District’s Academy for Education & Learning offers students introductory education courses all four years of their secondary experience. Students also engage in 120 internship hours where they receive on the ground experience in an education setting. Eligible seniors may complete their senior coursework in full or in part at one of the academy’s college partners.
The Teacher Academy is a 4-year CTE pathway to teaching. The CTE curriculum centers on social justice and why teaching matters. This grow-your-own partnership aims to recruit and prepare students to enter the teaching profession and return to their communities. The partnership aligns with the need to increase Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and particularly Black males in the teaching profession.
Generating Interest in the Profession
GYO programs may allow students to get an in-depth look at teaching as a profession.
Montclair State University: Urban Teacher Residency
The Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) is a grant-funded, cohort-structured teacher education program, designed to recruit talented individuals, especially people of color and individuals from other occupations, into the teaching force. UTR provides intensive classroom experience with a mentor teacher, and three years of induction and professional development support after graduation. Graduates of the UTR program are required to make a three-year commitment to teach in the Newark or Orange Public Schools.
Rowan University: Project IMPACT (Increasing Male Practitioners and Classroom Teachers)
The Project IMPACT program increases the representation of males from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds in teaching and responds to persistent opportunity gaps faced by young men from diverse backgrounds. IMPACT participants will complete an urban education-focused teacher preparation program in a specified area of study.
Kean University: Future Teachers' Academy
As part of our ongoing efforts to support districts in encouraging local high school graduates to consider teaching as a profession, Kean’s College of Education established the Kean Future Teacher Academy (FTA). Kean University’s FTA is a bi-annual on campus event (fall and spring) for high school students that express an interest in teaching as a career. Over the past 20 years, faculty have worked alongside high school teachers to provide juniors and seniors with an opportunity to explore various programs that lead to certification while experiencing hands on workshops. Students that attend FTA events work directly with College of Education faculty.
Future Educators Academy at The College of New Jersey
The Future Educators Academy (FEA) is a week-long residential summer program for high school sophomores and juniors who are interested in pursuing a career in education. This intensive program focuses on social justice in education and is designed to inform students of the importance of teaching and the ability of educators to affect change both in and beyond the classroom. Students will gain familiarity with the classroom from a teacher’s perspective by planning and delivering mini lessons to elementary school children. This program aims to recruit students from marginalized and underrepresented groups, although anyone may apply.
Tomorrow’s Teachers is an innovative dual credit elective course, offered in participating high schools, with the intention to instill an interest in teaching as a career for high school juniors and seniors. The course offers students valuable insight into the rewards and challenges of being an educator and the critical issues affecting the quality of education in American schools. It also equips aspiring teachers with an awareness about teaching and learning that empowers them to become community leaders and advocates for education. Students can receive dual credit through Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kean University, Rider University, and Stockton University.
New Jersey Future Educators Association
Recognizing the need for diverse, highly trained teachers, the New Jersey Future Educators Association endeavors to foster the recruitment and development of prospective future teachers by engaging its student members in innovative programming and experiential learning opportunities. Starting a chapter at a middle school or high school is a great way for students to access resources that will inspire them to explore a career in education. An educator serving as the chapter advisor, works to nurture students’ interest in the field of education. Students have access to conferences, summer events, leadership roles, networking opportunities, and more.
Registered Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce, and individuals can obtain paid work experience, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally recognized credential.
In 2023, the Task Force on Public School Staff Shortages in New Jersey identified several recommendations to address staffing shortages, including the establishment of a New Jersey teacher apprenticeship program. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), the Department has created a grant opportunity to support the establishment of new, USDOL approved registered teacher apprenticeships to assist with offsetting the costs associated with tuition assistance and/or on the job training. In addition, New Jersey has several other USDOL approved registered teacher apprenticeship programs that are affiliated with school districts, intermediaries and/or institutions of higher education. A list of USDOL approved registered teacher apprenticeships in New Jersey can be found by using the USDOL’s Apprenticeship Finder.
When implementing and evaluating GYOs, the following considerations should be considered:
Competition: Some programs in New Jersey have faced challenges in competing with other course advancement programs and have needed to pay greater attention to marketing the profession to prospective high school students.
Credit Alignment: In creating partnerships with IHEs, it can be especially beneficial when the dual enrollment courses offered can be applied to an education degree at the prospective IHE.
Follow Up: Not only is it essential to generate interest in the profession early on in a student’s life, but it is also important to conduct some degree of follow-up with students after they participate in a GYO program. Continuing contact with students after their participation can help build a pathway for them to become an educator at the GYO’s district.
Data Collection: To ensure program effectiveness, outcome data must be collected. In addition to program completion, data should be collected on whether participants enroll in an educator preparation program after program completion.
Funding: When developing a GYO, it is essential to consider the program’s sustainability. By finding a long -term source of funding, such as through Perkins, programs may have a greater chance to exist without funding concerns year by year.