Mayville State University to use $100,000 grant to cover costs to turn paraprofessionals into teachers
Jan. 19—MAYVILLE, N.D. — Mayville State University is using a recently-received grant to further its efforts to combat the teacher shortage in North Dakota. The work is being done in collaboration with nearby schools.
Pam Johnson, the university's assistant professor of education and dean and chair of the Division of Education, said she's happy to be part of the state's efforts to get more teachers into classrooms.
"I come from another state where there's a teacher shortage and one of the things I have loved about North Dakota is that I think this is a very innovative approach to the teacher shortage and to getting qualified teachers in the classroom," she said.
Mayville State was notified this month that it had received the Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teachers grant in the amount of $100,000. Carly Theis, another assistant professor of education and a special education coordinator, said the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction had informed the university about the grant, and a team got together to apply for it.
The idea to encourage paras to become full teachers has been on the minds of North Dakota leaders for months. In September, for instance,
it was announced that $4 million in federal funds were coming to North Dakota
to bolster the initiative.
Mayville State's plan for the grant money is to use it to fund all educational expenses for paraprofessionals who want to earn an education degree and teacher license in North Dakota. Johnson and Theis are working with Grand Forks Public Schools and New Rockford-Sheyenne Public Schools, with whom they already have partnerships. Leaders of the initiative have reached out to the schools to determine the kinds of teachers most needed.
The answer: Special education teachers.
Johnson and Theis are now working with superintendents on picking which paraprofessionals qualify for portions of the grant's funding. Some of the qualifications include that the paraprofessional has at least 60 hours in higher education already and is willing to stay and teach in North Dakota.
"We've got paraprofessionals that are already working with students, that are already committed to the classroom," Johnson said. "How can we remove barriers to get them from being paraprofessionals to being classroom teachers?"
Paraprofessionals, Theis said, can continue their work in schools while they go through the 100% online courses to get their education degree. The grant will also let the students spend more time student-teaching with mentor teachers.
"We've worked really hard and are proud of our partnerships," Theis said. "We are excited to see really what it can do for their school districts and hoping that we can continue this even past when this grant expires."
Ideally, Theis said, it might get "some high school students interested in special education as well as elementary, early childhood and then secondary education."
For Johnson and Theis, being able to provide funding to turn paraprofessionals into teachers is critical, but so is paving the way for this to become possible.
"I think I got another email this morning from a paraprofessional that said, 'I didn't receive grant funding, but I'm interested in becoming a teacher. What do I need to do?'" Johnson said. "It's just exciting seeing that momentum across North Dakota."
