The Johns Hopkins School of Education is making progress in its efforts to address critical teacher shortages, securing financial support for four innovative programs that make it easier for educators and counselors to pursue graduate degrees, certifications, and professional experience. Viewed collectively, the four programs address several areas of need where a nationwide shortfall of qualified, committed professionals is of most serious concern — including counseling and mental health services, special education, and the broader need for teachers in general.
Interested candidates for any of these programs are encouraged to contact the School of Education for more information on degrees and certifications offered, enrollment requirements, program financial, academic and professional supports, as well as application instructions and deadlines.
- RESET: Lead investigators Anita Young and Norma Day-Vines and colleagues earned an award of $4.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education Mental Health Services for their program known as Recruit Educate Support Evaluate and Train — RESET. The programs will train culturally responsive school counselors with a focus on upping their professional mental health credentials. The recruits to the program will be intentionally drawn from diverse populations, including people of color and LGBTQ+ communities, to work with K-12 students in a range of rural, suburban, and urban settings. Recruits receive tuition grants to pay for their master’s degrees and earn placement in internships in partner school districts in urban Atlanta, Georgia; suburban Richardson, Texas; and rural Suffolk, Virginia, providing a strong combination of classroom and hands-on experiences.
- RISE-TC: To address a key shortage in special education, principal investigators Alexandra Shelton and Rebecca Cruz and team secured $1.4 million from the Maryland State Department of Education to create the Rising Into Special Education Teacher Collaborative (RISE-TC). Students in RISE-TC earn their Master of Science in Special Education and qualify for Maryland special education certification. The program includes a preservice practicum, professional development, peer assistance and review, and a stipend. The initial effort is a pilot program in Montgomery County, Maryland, with eventual wider rollout planned.
- Project EnRICH: Co-Principal Investigators Tamara Marder and Alexandra Shelton garnered $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education for Project EnRICH, a five-year effort to train school psychologists, special educators, speech and language pathologists, and behavior specialists with specialized skills in applied behavior analysis and culturally responsive, evidence-based practices. Once trained, EnRICH’s multilingual scholars will disburse to serve children with disabilities and high-intensity needs from diverse cultural backgrounds. The grant covers full tuition for a post-master’s certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), plus additional stipends and advanced academic workshops.
- TeachingWell: The Johns Hopkins School of Education itself leapt into the fray with its teacher pipeline initiative, known as TeachingWell. The program is aimed at addressing the general teacher shortage of the last decade, which has been hastened by the pandemic. Creators Christopher Morphew, dean of the School of Education, and faculty director Mary Ellen Beaty-O’Ferrall, have developed a groundbreaking master’s degree residency program complete with tuition support for STEM-related, evidence-based teacher training — plus a guaranteed job in an approved Baltimore-area partnership school that includes four years of post-graduation, hands-on professional development to spur the long-term teaching success and job retention. Candidates receive a stipend for living expenses while enrolled, as well.
With these four programs, the Johns Hopkins School of Education assumes a national profile as a leader in addressing the teacher shortage on many fronts. The solution begins with attracting new and enthusiastic people to the profession and then helping them succeed in the long term with financial resources that ensure they aren’t burdened with debt upon graduation. Advanced degrees and certifications in hand, these programs then offer on-the-job professional development and practical opportunities to apply their newly honed skills and knowledge in rewarding real-world situations that pay off for the people who matter most — the students.
