First the good news, ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ was recently awarded a $2.2 million grant by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to address the stateβs teacher shortage in rural school districts. The Rural Educator Recruitment & Retention grant will fund the establishment and operation of the Center for Rural Education and focus on the high-need areas of science, mathematics, special education and cultural/linguistic diversity.
The teacher shortage is the not such good news. Colorado released a report this week indicating that the number of βindividuals completing an education preparation program at Colorado colleges and universities during the 2015-16 academic year declined by 2.2 percent,β 24.4 percent since 2010. You may have seen the recent .
The statewide shortage is why support for ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½βs teacher preparation programs is of critical importance. Founded as the stateβs normal school, ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ has a long and distinguished history of training and preparing our stateβs education workforce. 23% of the stateβs degree completers train at ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½, the largest percentage of any single institution; ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ hosts the regionβs largest teacher employment fair; and specialty programs like Cumbres and the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½-School of Mines STEM collaboration are integral to addressing the state shortage. Also important is the scholarship and mentorship support that our alumni, particularly our education professionals, provide to current students. Alumni investment supports a studentβs choice to pursue the profession and succeed in it after graduation.
Next week ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ will celebrate the December 2016 Fall Commencement. We will acknowledge and celebrate the academic achievement of hundreds of students, welcoming each into the forever family of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Bears alumni. There is no better time then now to reflect on what we are doing to support our education majors, teacher candidates and current education professionals getting ready to walk across the commencement stage and toward the stage of their career.
This is a situation near the hearts of many ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ alumni, as well as our community at large, so if you have an opportunity to thank an educator, support a student, or raise awareness please do so. ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ and the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ alumni community are uniquely positioned to champion the importance of teacher preparation within the state of Colorado.
Of course the situation is more complex than a one-and-done statistic; but as individual ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ alumni - and beneficiaries of the knowledge brought to life through the care and professionalism of our past teachers and professors - I say that if there is more to be done, then more we shall do. Wouldn't that be good news?
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