Sunflower County’s public schools have long been in the heart of Mississippi’s qualified teacher shortage crisis, but help may be on the way.
According to the Mississippi Department of Education, $4.1 million in new funding, thanks to a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will go toward the Mississippi Teacher Residency program, a partnership between MDE, Sunflower County Consolidated School District, Jackson Public Schools, Biloxi Public Schools and Ocean Springs School District.
According to a release from MDE, the grant will help recruit 35 teacher candidates, pay their undergraduate tuition and place them in the classroom of a highly skilled or National Board Certified Teacher mentor for two years.
“Every school must have effective teachers to help students learn and achieve at the highest levels,” said Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. “This project is part of a statewide strategy to diversify the teacher pipeline to ensure all students have access to teachers who are well-prepared, appropriately licensed and serve as role models for success.”
Candidates will be required to teach in the above districts for three years after completing the “residency program,” the release said.
The W.K. Kellogg grant will also fund a performance-based teacher licensure pilot program, which will help a select group of teachers with provisional licenses become fully licensed.
The program is aimed at teachers who have proven to be effective in the classroom, but are struggling to pass licensure exams.
Teachers in the performance-based licensure program also make a three-year commitment to remain teaching in their respective districts.
Recruitment for the Mississippi Teacher Residency and performance-based licensure programs will start in spring 2019 for the 2019-20 school year.
