Teacher Pipelines: Growing Our Own

As a veteran Principal and now Director of Human Resources, I am constantly concerned with the teaching candidates we can attract, the preparation of the candidates and the suitability or quality of the candidates for the teacher vacancies that we have. We are in a high-stakes battle these days to overcome teacher shortages for the sake of our children’s education. For the Darlington County School District, as with most school districts across the country, we have developed models and concepts of teacher pipelines that allow us to grow our own regionally prepared teachers to fill the growing vacancies. For some of us, this idea has been a game-changer, while for others it has been met with colossal failure. So, what is it that makes building teacher pipelines work? There are varying opinions about what success really is, but opportunities such as building from the Teacher Assistant level, career changers and classroom apprenticeships show some promise.

Various Pathways in SC

In SC, we have fifteen state-approved Alternative Certification Pathways. These pathways are diverse and appeal to different potential teaching candidates based on their current educational level, certification interests and to some degree their regional residency. For more than twelve years, I have worked with Teach for America (TFA SC) to recruit socially active, highly driven corps members from across the country. Their track record has been great in high-poverty rural areas. And now, they too face the changing talent pool, but they continue to screen and select the most talented incoming teachers.

A few years ago, one of the first teacher residency programs emerged from Clemson University, CU-Prepares. Like so many other grant-based programs across the nation, CU-Prepares was largely funded by Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grants. Unfortunately, they were among those grants that ended due to federal budget cuts last year. The ten or so local CU-Prepares candidates we found during an interest meeting have had to choose other options. And some have changed their minds after the experience.

In the last two years, Coker University began a teacher certification program that works as an apprenticeship in our local school districts. For example, in Cohort I in the Darlington County School District, we hired five teacher assistants who were admitted to the Alternative Pathways to Educator Certification (APEC) at Coker University. The agreement is that the teaching candidates are employed as paraprofessionals, attend online and in-person courses for a year and pass the required Praxis exams for their teaching area. Upon successful completion of the program, the apprentices were hired as teachers in our district. Additionally, the teachers have the opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree if they continue coursework. Now in year two, Cohort II candidates are being trained on the job with mentor teachers daily and receiving traditional coursework in pedagogy, classroom management and community interactions.

Working with our Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Charles Miller, we have explored at least six pathways and International Teacher Exchange Programs as well. He characterizes this method for building the teacher pipeline this way. “Alternative certification pathways are no longer a luxury; they are necessary to fill critical vacancies across South Carolina, especially in high-needs areas. The clear advantage is the speed at which we can bring diverse, talented professionals into the classroom. The challenge, however, is ensuring these accelerated programs still provide the rigorous training and support needed to turn a new hire into an effective, long-term educator.” And it seems that most Human Resource and Personnel Administrators are having the same experience. Ten years ago, Alternative Pathways were novel and trendy. Five years ago, they were a nice alternative. These days, they are a necessity.

Research vs Reality

In one Texas study conducted by Deneault & Riehl entitled, “Should States Reduce Teacher Licensing Requirements?”, the quality of traditionally trained teachers is compared to the quality of alternatively trained teachers. The key findings are listed below:

Retention and Quality- Retention parity: About 70% of both groups remain in the classroom after five years. Effectiveness: Alternatively certified ELA and math teachers show slightly lower value-added scores, though differences are statistically small. For-profit alt-cert teachers perform worse than non-profit program graduates on all outcomes. Uncertified teachers show the lowest student achievement gains and the highest attrition rates.

Policy Impact- Texas’s expansion of alternative certification programs successfully reduced reliance on uncertified teachers, achieving its staffing goals. Researchers call the impact “net zero,” but findings suggest a net positive— schools replaced uncertified teachers with certified ones of higher quality. A new post-pandemic rise in uncertified hires has led to academic declines, prompting legislation to end uncertified teaching by 2029.

Small Wins

So, the Texas study suggests some small wins for the Alternative Certification Route. To some degree, we have seen some wins in South Carolina. Likewise, BloomBoard, a talent development provider, is posting wins in training and retention in its teacher pipeline models in Georgia, New Jersey and Illinois. To get these wins, it is paramount to understand the various models, programs, pros and cons. To sustain those wins, everyone needs to be aware of the effective ways to strategize while building the teacher pipeline. One way is to focus on the targeted placement of teaching candidates. Strategic use of alternative pathways (PACE, Carolina CAP, APEC, Teachers of Tomorrow, etc.) can strengthen staffing in STEM and secondary subjects. Another way is continuous monitoring of what’s working and not working in each program. Monitoring program quality (non-profit vs. for-profit) is key to sustaining student growth. And finally, as Superintendents, Personnel Administrators, Principals and Recruiters, we absolutely must realize and emphasize that mentoring and retention ensure long-term teacher effectiveness. 

Why It Has to Work

All things considered, school districts are promoting their community members, paraprofessionals and career changers in hopes of finding great talent for our classrooms. The notion of growing our own has never been so prevalent. Superintendent of Darlington County Schools, Dr. Matthew Ferguson, said, “The truth is, we’re competing for talent in a tough market. But what sets us apart has to be meaning. When people see the impact they can make in a Darlington County classroom—or any rural classroom—they see that teaching isn’t just a job. It’s a calling worth committing to.” Therefore, we must continue through innovation and strategy in Human Resources and education at large to find the best pathways to those individuals who are born to teach. They are the ones willing to take up the charge, grow their capacity and move to proficiency. It has to work because our children are depending on our efforts to build the teacher pipeline and place quality teachers in front, alongside and behind them.