A severe shortage of teachers has spurred new ideas of how to bring more educators into the workforce. To stem the tide, Valencia College and the Orange and Osceola school districts have unveiled a new program allowing students to earn their elementary school teaching certification while working as paraprofessionals in the school they may eventually teach in.
This “apprenticeship model” provides a direct and low cost path to becoming a teacher, educations leaders said at a recent event to share the program with the public.
“We here in Central Florida are definitely dealing with the same thing that everybody’s dealing with nationwide, and that is a shortage of teachers,” said Osceola Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff. “We know that an effective teacher is the No. 1 determinant of how a student is going to achieve. More than anything else, it is all about that relationship between teacher and student. It really causes us to take a look at what we are doing to try to solve this. We’ve put a lot of band-aids on this problem but it is not a strategy. It’s not something long term that can be sustainable, that will allow us to really solve this problem.
“Now the opportunity for students to have that additional pathway in order to become credentialed as elementary educators benefits this community, benefits the economy in this community, and benefits families that are now moving into our community at a record rate.”
Valencia College President Dr. Kathleen Plinske said that while this is Valencia’s eighth bachelor’s degree program, it’s the first to leverage an apprenticeship model.
“We understand the very serious need to find highly qualified teachers, and we believe that we have exactly those individuals living within Orange and Osceola counties,” she said. “It is about creating an opportunity for them to pursue a career in teaching.”
To participate in the program, a student must first complete two-year associate in arts degree program at Valencia. After completing that degree, they can begin working immediately in elementary school as a full time paraprofessional, earning a salary. But they will also be earning credit through on-the-job training and working with a teacher apprentice mentor. There will be on-line courses that students will complete in order to earn their bachelor’s degree in elementary education and their teaching certificate. They can complete the program in two years, all while working full time in their school.
Plinske also noted that there is already a program in place that allows students to graduate from high school with both a diploma and an Associate’s degree from, which means those students graduating from high school can start working immediately, and still pursue their bachelor’s degree.
“We will be communicating with them about the opportunity to immediately be employed as a paraprofessional with the school districts, as well as communicating with students who are completing or have completed their Associate’s degree in the more standard post-high school route,” she said.
Osceola County student Melissa Liriano is already working at Ventura Elementary School in the apprenticeship program and said it is very beneficial.
“Working as a paraprofessional you’re gaining the experience,” she said. “You’re getting the field experience, that classroom knowledge, so when your credits are going to count towards your bachelor’s – that’s an advantage.
“My hope is to be working in either third or fourth grade and teaching (language arts) in Osceola County,” she says of her future plans, “I love it. I love to see the spark in my students, seeing how they want to learn.”
On July 9, open houses at both Valencia College’s West and Osceola campuses will highlight job opportunities within Orange and Osceola counties, including this new apprenticeship/ paraprofessional program. Students can talk with their guidance counselors at school or with Valencia College.
