WKU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences awarded $2M to support rural educator apprenticeship

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A four-year, $2 million U.S. Department of Education award, Project CARE , will support high school students in rural areas of Kentucky as they pursue careers as K-12 teachers.

According to a release by the university, Project CARE supports Western Kentucky University’s partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System to provide a pathway for future teachers to begin their college preparation in high school through a collaborative dual credit K-12 Teaching and Learning Early College Pathway. High School students enroll in coursework at KCTCS and WKU with flexible instructional delivery systems, clinical experiences in a residency model and a network of support, advising and mentoring.

Students can earn up to 60 hours toward their bachelor’s degree while in high school, including fulfillment of the teaching and learning pathway, general education requirements and up to 24 hours of the required Educator Preparatory Program coursework. KCTCS coursework is fully transferable to WKU, the release states.

One component of Project CARE is the establishment of a paid Registered Apprenticeship Program for K-12 teachers. According to the university, program participants will enter the Registered Apprenticeship Program upon high school graduation. Project CARE’s residential teaching approach allows participants to complete a bachelor’s degree within two years of high school graduation.

Project CARE director and principal investigator, Dr. Susan Keesey, emphasized the opportunities Project CARE will provide for Kentucky students and schools:

“This collaborative partnership between KCTCS, WKU, and high schools provides our district partners the opportunity to choose their future teachers. High school students wanting to be teachers learn through a high-quality accelerated program where they are paid for their work. This opens up opportunities for many more rural high school students to become teachers which is much needed during this critical teacher shortage.”

Project CARE is funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development program. The purpose of RPED is to “improve rates of postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion among rural students through development of high-quality career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the region.” 97% of the $2,035,668 project will be funded by the RPED award.

Dr. Corinne Murphy, dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, noted the benefits to WKU’s efforts to train more Kentucky teachers, saying, “This federal award affords WKU the opportunity to continue its work to build a framework for educator apprenticeship in Kentucky. Living, learning, and working in the communities we serve will further establish impactful Grow Your Own opportunities helping to resolve the teacher shortage in our Commonwealth.”

Project CARE will support teacher apprenticeship in 10 Kentucky school districts, including Caverna Independent, Grayson County and Nelson County, among others.

WKU, along with partnering districts, are working to find innovative ways to address the teacher shortage, according to the university. Project CARE will help allow rural communities to have the opportunity to further their education without having to leave their community, the release states.

Project CARE co-principal investigator Dr. Marguerita DeSander pointed out the advantages of the program’s structure for future teachers.

She said, “The Project CARE teacher apprenticeship model blends the best of both worlds for pre-service teacher candidates – gaining real world experience as a teacher while working with a master teacher and gaining valuable classroom experiences translating into course competencies. This model takes teacher preparation and experiential learning to a whole new level – it is a game-changer for developing competent, caring, and collaborative teaching professionals.”

Project CARE is scheduled to begin in Fall 2024.

For additional details, contact the WKU School of Teacher Education. For more information on WKU’s teacher apprenticeship programs, contact Dr. Dennis George, Project CARE Apprenticeship Coordinator at dennis.george@wku.edu.