Seattle Public Schools, the largest district in Washington, has announced its “class-to-cert” program, in partnership with City University.

The program aims to increase the number of teachers of color by recruiting instructional assistants to be special education teachers. Since instructional assistants are usually members of the local community, this initiative promises to make the teaching workforce more reflective of the diverse student population in the city.

Here is the press release in its entirety:

SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO INCREASE DIVERSITY AMONG TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM
School District Partners With Professional Educators Standards Board,
Seattle Education Association, and City University

SEATTLE – Over 100 different languages are spoken in Seattle Public Schools, and 24 percent of the district’s 46,000 students are bilingual speakers. To meet the increasing need for bilingual teachers in both general and special education classes, Seattle Public Schools has partnered with the state’s Professional Educator Standards Board, the Seattle Education Association and City University to provide a dual certification program for the district’s paraprofessionals.

Through the program, which was designed by City University under the guidelines of the Washington State Alternative Routes Program, paraprofessionals can obtain their BA in education with endorsements in K-8 Elementary and K-12 Special Education.

This fall, 21 Seattle Public Schools’ paraprofessionals began a two-year degree program through City University that is expressly designed for them. Half of the cohort is comprised of experienced special education paraprofessionals while the other half works in bilingual programs — both areas that the Professional Educator Standards Board, or PESB, identified as needing more teachers. The PESB is administrating funding for alternative routes to teacher certification in Washington.

“Committed, highly qualified teachers will go into Seattle schools as a result of this partnership,” said Dr. Margaret Davis, Dean of City University’s Albright School of Education. “City University is gratified by the quality and diversity of the candidates, because this program is a major step in meeting our goal of providing teachers who reflect the students they will serve.

“Children deserve teachers who look like themselves and who understand the barriers of learning in a second language,” Davis continued. “Moreover, this partnership fulfills the mission of City University, which is making quality higher education available to those for whom access is difficult. This four-way collaboration with the district, the state and the education union is particularly meaningful. It will change lives of the candidates and their students.”

Each year, Seattle Public Schools has openings for trained professionals in 50-75 special education classes, and the district’s human resources department struggles to fill each position with qualified candidates. Through the first City University cohort of the Washington State Alternative Routes Program, Seattle Public Schools would gain 21 new special education teachers, many who have years of experience working in special education as paraeducators.

“I am so pleased that we are partnering with these high-quality organizations on such a worthwhile goal – investing in our people, who are in turn investing their talent and caring by working with children the classroom,” said Superintendent Raj Manhas. “Helping these employees earn their teaching certificates is a benefit to all involved, and the district couldn’t have done it without the collaborative efforts of these organizations.” The alternative routes program provides the district with a pool of bilingual paraeducators that will be better able to understand the challenges bilingual students face each day, Manhas added.

“It is critical that very intentional steps be taken to increase the diversity of the teacher work force to better match the diversity of the students in districts where they work,” stated Dr. Lin Douglas, PESB Director of Alternative Route Programs. “This partnership represents an important step in developing locally responsive pathways by which paraprofessionals can achieve teacher certification. The Legislature is commended for its continued support of alternative route to teacher certification programs ensuring that programs like this can be sustained and expanded to other regions of the state.”

According to the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, the percentage of students in special education classes statewide has risen every year since 2001. Currently, 12.4 percent of the state’s K-12 students are in special education programs, and the number is even higher – 13.7 percent – at Seattle Public Schools. In addition, 11.5 percent of the Seattle Schools’ student population is considered transitional bilingual. OSPI also notes that special education continues to show a substantial shortage of teachers, and concerted efforts are needed to meet a growing demand.

“The SEA membership believes in closing the academic achievement gap and that having classroom teachers that reflect our student population will help in accomplishing that goal,” comments Wendy Kimball, President of SEA. “Support for paraprofessionals and secretaries/office personnel is critical given the difficulty of going back to school to earn a teaching certificate and working full time.” Kimball continues, “SEA is committed to supporting staff with the resources of time and money so they can earn a certificate. The funding for this program came from reallocating money during the 2004-2009 contract bargaining from the sabbatical funds and a settlement agreement.”

Paraprofessionals who successfully complete the program will be placed in the displacement pool and will be able to apply for any Seattle Public Schools position that they are qualified to teach. Successful candidates will have a three-year commitment with the district.

About Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools serves 45,800 students in a dynamic, standards-based learning community of 97 schools citywide. SPS offers a broad range of programs and learning opportunities, enhanced by strong support from parents, volunteers, and community members. Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school system in Washington, and the 44th largest in the United States.

About PESB
As a public board created by the Legislature with members appointed by the Governor, the Professional Educator Standards Board sets and upholds high standards for the profession, ensuring that students encounter high-quality educators throughout their school experience. The scope of the work of the PESB covers every aspect of the profession – policies and requirements related to preparation, certification, assignment, and continuing education of certified educators.

About SEA
The Seattle Education Association is an educational union that represents 5,500 employees, which include certificated staff, paraprofessionals, and secretary and office personnel. SEA is affiliated with the Washington Education Association and the National Education Association.

About City University
Founded in 1973 in Seattle, Wash., City University is a private, not-for-profit university with over 41,000 alumni worldwide. City University’s goal is to change lives for good by offering high quality and relevant online and in-class education options to any person in the world with a desire to achieve. The university is comprised of three schools: The School of Management, The Gordon Albright School of Education, and The School of Arts and Sciences. Headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, City University offers classes at locations throughout Washington, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, and China.