Tennessee initiative wants to spark youth interest in teaching

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education is looking to fill a key hole in teacher recruitment through an initiative hoping to foster Tennessee millennials' interest in education.

"Teach Today. Change Tomorrow," launched on Monday, is billed as a way to get high school students interested in teaching, with the eventual goal of building a pipeline of quality educators to place in front of every student statewide — especially in high-need teaching subjects.

"If we want to prepare our best students, we have to attract and encourage our best and brightest to go into the teaching profession," said Jamie Woodson, SCORE chair and CEO.

The new initiative will create a recruitment and mentor network to help young students become attracted to the profession, including those from a diverse background.

Teacher jobs are in demand and more than 20,000 Tennessee teacher job openings are anticipated by 2025, according to the initiative. And students of color make up 35 percent of the state's public school population, but only 15 percent of teachers are those of color, according to the initiative.

"We know how important it is to have the teacher workforce resemble their communities," Woodson said.

"Teach Today. Change Tomorrow," follows on the heels of SCORE's October report that detailed how well teachers were equipped to help students see above average academic success in their first few years on the job.

The report said of the 40 teacher preparation programs in the state, only a few were preparing fledgling educators to excel.

The feeling from those within SCORE was that the organization could do more.

"Teaching is the most important profession in the state," Woodson said.

The Tennessee Department of Education will partner with the organization in the initiative.

Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said the department has set aside $200,000 for innovation grants to colleges and universities.

While the state doesn't have a teacher shortage, there is a need for teachers in specialty areas that include English language, special needs and STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math) instruction, she said.

To address the dearth, the grants will help teacher preparation programs think about how to change recruitment processes and help students focus more broadly on their teacher certifications, McQueen said.

"With a dual license, if someone comes out with a K-6 license, they'd also have an English language license," McQueen said. "We have very few programs that are looking at dual pathway, and that would help us with some of our shortage areas."

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.