It's a Rap

creating partnerships to develop a dynamic, robust, well-prepared educator workforce

  • “JOURNEYWORKER”, ONE WORD OR TWO?

    When was the last time you heard the term “Journeyworker”, or for that matter, “Apprentice”, in conversation?

    Likely never if you work in the field of education where the more familiar terms for teacher pathways are “student teaching”, “cooperating teacher”, “field experience”, “state certification” and “tenure”–usually, in that order. Yet the trades and technical fields use the terms “journeyworker” and “apprentice” ubiquitously to define the important and highly esteemed multi-yeared progression from unskilled novice to expert, qualified worker. It is a required rite of passage Apprentices take to earn the qualifications/certifications commensurate with high level work and well paying titles. My appreciation for the Apprenticeship model, starkly different from traditional teacher preparation, increased over a recent breakfast conversation with a newly-retired friend and tradesman.

    Catching up over our second cup of coffee, the discussion turned to my current work around registering Apprenticeship programs for educators. My friend leaned in when I asked, “Dave, you’re familiar with the terms, Journeyworker and Apprentice, right?” With passion, Dave said, “Steve. That’s part of my job. I am a journeyworker, and I’ve guided Apprentices for decades. There is no better training model”.  I reciprocated this passion as I described the important and exciting work of the HUB team (of which I am a member). Our goal is to transform teacher preparation and the teaching profession into one that places a new and high value on the guided hands-on experience and application of college coursework in partnership with an experienced and successful teacher. A journey that lasts one or two full school years, immersing the candidate Apprentice in the school community and providing, through extended  time, the 360 degree view of teaching necessary for long term success.

    Back to crosswords, I often run across an unfamiliar word or two in puzzles that I really should know. Journeyworker is one such term. Call it a gap in knowledge, but up until working with the NYS Educator Workforce Development Hub, I didn’t fully realize the value Apprenticeships could offer the field of education. Under the Registered Apprenticeship Program model, and for the first time, the value of the experienced teacher (Journeyworker) working shoulder to shoulder with a teacher candidate (Apprentice) all day, every day across the school year is finally recognized. Apprenticeships are a centuries old model, so I am puzzled, what’s taken us so long? Journeyworker is one word, and it fits!

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  • Waving a Magic Wand: the Alchemy of Funding

    At the Spring 2023 US Dept of Labor Eastern Seaboard Apprenticeship Conference, the question was asked, “if you could wave a magic wand and fix or add anything to the residency Apprenticeship model, what would it be?”

    Great question. 

    My mind immediately reflected on the legendary Ron Thorpe, late President and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards who wrote, Sustaining the Teaching Profession. Dr. Thorpe’s seminal paper highlighted the important parallels to the successful medical residency model, about which he commented, “Since that time [WW II], most physicians move into residencies,…..These are intense phases of training during which new physicians see the breadth and depth of situations presented by patients. It is a time when the knowledge and skills learned in medical school become anchored in practice, but under the close supervision of experienced physicians (…) The medical profession has developed in (…) ways that can inform the development of the teaching profession ” [emphasis added].

    We all know (and are relieved) that medical students spend several years applying their academic learning as residents in hospital settings under the guidance of Attending Doctors. The resident’s work is long and hard, but wages are provided which allows residents to focus on their studies and skills, rather than the financial costs of their career pathway. Medical residents are paid without question. 

    Here’s the best part: Do you know who covers their cost of employment?  

    Another great question. Hint: It’s not the hospitals. 

    Residents are paid through U.S. taxpayer dollars as the cost was long ago embedded in the federal government healthcare arm, Medicare and Medicaid. And why should taxpayers via Medicare and Medicaid assume this fiscal responsibility? Because health care and well-trained doctors matters; a lot! And we can say the same about education and teachers, whose impact grows each and everyday!  

    Now, back to that magic wand. With newfound powers, we’d leverage a teacher preparation model (residencies) that follows the medical residency pathway and embeds the funding in a broad-based federal model. This would allow teacher candidates to be paid a live-able wage in residencies as Apprentices, while applying academic coursework over at least one full academic year in the workplace; all under the watchful eye of accomplished practitioners. Surely our children deserve a teacher preparation model that promises to produce the best new educators this great country can provide; educators who will contribute to a sustained, competent, skilled teacher workforce. It will take a lot of conversations and work.  “Abracadabra”, let’s begin!

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  • Apprenticeship: the Icing on the Cake

    Residency programs are like delicious, homemade chocolate cakes. They use the best ingredients and require much more time to plan, prepare and bake as compared to traditional teacher preparation programs. Research is clear, residencies reward the profession with well-prepared, confident, classroom-ready teachers. And, like cake, residencies offer the foundational layers on which to build high quality Apprenticeship programs (which offer the icing, so to speak). Layering an Apprenticeship onto a residency provides distinct advantages over residencies alone.

    Comparing residencies with Apprenticeships, the base ingredients are identical in all aspects save one: the icing. 

    Both programs require: 

    1. enrollment in IHE Educator Preparation Programs with NYSED-approved Registered Residency Programs;
    2. a one year or longer extended clinical experience under the watchful eye of both an accomplished School-Based Teacher Educator and University-Based Teacher Educator; and 
    3. strong P-20 collaboration around curriculum alignment, assessment, supervision, and support.

    So what more to add? How does the icing of Apprenticeship programs add to residencies?

    Before tasting, it’s important to understand that residencies can operate on their own, without Apprenticeships, much like eating cake without icing. Yet Apprenticeships, as the icing, can’t take shape without the solid cake of residencies holding them up. 

    Registered Apprenticeship Programs add value to residencies as they require employment wages to the candidate, a little more time with a minimum of 1200 hours on-the-job, and must be registered with the NYS Department of Labor–all of which enrich the clinical experience. 

    Since residencies work so well, why make the effort to register a teacher Apprentice program? 

    Well, like icing, the Apprenticeship offers an enhanced experience for both the district and candidate with:

    1. supplemental DOL grants called Apprenticeship Expansion Grants (this year’s grant allows program sponsors access to $15,000 per Apprentice for tuition assistance, Apprentice wage offsets, and other supports);
    2. automatic tuition assistance for State University candidates;
    3. an expanded teacher candidate pipeline thanks to wage requirements and tuition support that reduces student debt, removing barriers to attract a more diverse pool; and
    4. modest startup money from the HUB to districts/BOCES, unions affiliates, and IHEs.

    Cake is good, yet icing makes it marvelously complete. Registering an Apprenticeship program opens opportunities for funding, removes barriers, improves preparedness, increases retention, and builds educator diversity which all serve to enhance the foundational residency program.

    It’s time to dig in.

  • Help Us, Help You

    An educator workforce crisis, years in the making, has schools and communities scrambling to find solutions as new teachers leave the profession in droves and pandemic-fatigued veterans retire to begin new life chapters. The stakes could not be higher as our nation’s democracy, Gross Domestic Product, infant mortality rate, and societal values, depend on a strong public school education system.  

    Though we may not be able to convince someone at retirement age to stay and teach a few years longer, we can fix the frustratingly high new teacher attrition rates (spiraling upward to 50%) and lack of educators being representative of the communities they serve by redefining how we prepare teachers for the classroom. We must begin by revising the present 1950’s model for teacher preparation, rooted in short unpaid student teaching stints, to create one or two year-long residencies that employ candidates as Apprentices–aka, Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs).

    Apprenticeships, grounded in centuries of successful workforce support, offer a viable talent development pathway through the NYS Department of Labor (DOL) Apprenticeship title of “Teacher”, which now provides districts and BOCES a workforce solution. RAPs are a strong response to teacher workforce challenges as they provide paid on-the-job experiences to teacher candidates working elbow to elbow with accomplished teachers to hone their craft while practicing what they learn in their college courses. Forming a RAP takes collaboration between multiple partners, and the NYS Educator Workforce HUB is here to help.

    Remember the line in the movie, Jerry Maguire, where Jerry (sports agent) and Rod Tidwell (football star) are in the locker room and Jerry’s imploring Rod to work with him. Jerry pleads during the emotional exchange, “Help me… help you. Help me, help you.”?  Well, those words and sentiments capture how the HUB functions. Our mission is to help address educator workforce challenges by facilitating Registered Apprenticeship partnerships. So we urge you, help us, help you. The HUB team is well-qualified and able to make the RAP creation process manageable and successful for district colleagues as they step into the roles of sponsor and employer. Click here to get started.

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  • Investing in the Long Game: Being the Tortoise, not the Hare

    There just aren’t enough teachers to fill classrooms, and that’s a huge problem for schools and communities. With the stark realities of supply and demand, the temptation to act fast and take shortcuts when hiring staff is palpable, particularly when competing with neighboring districts facing similar situations.

    Yet, investing in something as important as student learning requires a thoughtful, measured response.  As we learned in childhood from the Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady wins the race. Long-term success just can’t be rushed.  It is attained with a thoughtful, steady strategy rather than with panicked speed. When considering how best to approach the current teacher crisis, we must ask ourselves:

    • What is driving this predicament? and
    • What needs to be done to reverse course?

    These are not easy questions, and NY schools are not alone in grappling with them. In some cases, like the speedy hare, states have opted to quickly reduce, or even eliminate, certification requirements needed for individuals to enter classrooms. While such shortcuts may serve to rapidly recruit and hire individuals, ill-preparedness usually leads to fast burns and attrition. The resulting “churn” burdens the system, hurting students and the school community.  These types of quick solutions also pose long-term risks to districts in school culture, student success, and community support. So how do we break or prevent this cycle?

    Another hard question.  By being the tortoise and investing in the long game, we plan and work to access, develop, and retain strong talent. We pay candidates while they learn their craft working alongside an experienced educator.  Educators know from best practices that learning made real by experience is the most impactful. A paid Apprenticeship model has been a successful mainstay for the  workforce development community for centuries, so let’s combine, follow and implement these best practices across systems with future educators. Let’s adopt a slower, yet steady response that leverages learning through lived experience. In other words, let’s slow down and take the time to invest in a long-range, high-quality solution to the teacher workforce crisis through Apprenticeships.

  • IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

    “Hey, I just had my [insert subject or grade level here] teacher leave. Anyone have any candidates they’d recommend?“, asked Superintendent Avery. 
    “Good luck with that. You’d have a better chance winning the lottery.“, replied Superintendent Robin.
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    Are you feeling the punch line?

    Did you know, according to NYS TRS, 33% of NYS teachers are eligible to retire within the next five years?
    With NYS school districts facing incredible challenges filling teacher vacancies, it is time we do things differently. The 1950s teacher preparation model isn’t working, so let’s invest in a new approach. Learn more in this brief, fast-paced video about why developing a Registered Apprenticeship Program is the solution.

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