View as a webpage  /  Share

Newsbrief

on

Grow-Your-Own Initiatives

July 2024

Going forward, the Newsbrief on Grow-Your-Own Initiatives will be disseminated every other month.

Please see the revised 2024 schedule below:

Principal Registered Apprenticeship Playbook

We are pleased to share a newly created Principal Registered Apprenticeship Playbook. This new resource was developed in collaboration with the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO).

In July 2023, North Dakota became the first state in the nation to have an approved Registered Principal Apprenticeship program. Our hope is that our national approval leads to other states and districts applying.

The Playbook was developed to:

• Provide a framework
• Share lessons learned
• Help others through the process
• Serve as national exemplars

The playbook was publicly released on June 24, 2024, and is available on both the NDDPI and NCGYO websites. An informative webinar will be offered on September 12, 2024.

The playbook includes information on the first-ever Registered Principal Apprenticeship program. North Dakota State University (NDSU) was the grant recipient in round one. They have the following three school districts participating and eleven apprentices:

• Fargo Public School District
• Wahpeton Public School District
• Central Cass Public School District

University of North Dakota (UND) was announced as the recipient of the Aspiring Principals Grant in round two.

Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teachers (RAP-T)

Round One

In early January 2024, the first four recipients of round one funding for a RAP-T were announced.

* Valley City State University $100,000

* Mayville State University $100,000

* University of Mary $555,000

* Certification Central $100,000

Round Two

In mid-April 2024, the recipient of round two funding for a RAP-T was announced.

* Western Governors University $300,000

Round Three

The NDDPI has just awarded round three grants to the following five universities:

* Certification Central $200,000

* Dickinson State University $140,000

* Mayville State University $100,000

* Valley City State University $200,000

* Western Governors University $300,000

Round Four

The NDDPI will put out an RFA for round four this coming Fall.

Educator Pathway Program

The Educator Pathway program is designed for high school students in North Dakota who are interested in pursuing a career in teaching. This program offers an opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school, helping students prepare for a degree in education.

Program Highlights:

• Dual Credit Courses: Students can choose from five classes that count for both high school and college credit.
• Eligibility: Available to any school district in North Dakota that wants to include these courses in their curriculum.
• Course Delivery: Courses can be taught by the school district’s teachers or by professors from participating universities.

How Do I Access It?

For Administrators:

• Implementation: School districts interested in offering these courses should contact participating universities to discuss course delivery options.
• Support: Universities can help determine if the district can teach the courses or if university professors are needed.

For Students and Parents:

• Enrollment: Students should express their interest to their school administrators or counselors.
• Encouragement: If the local school district does not offer the courses, encourage them to do so.
• Payment: The university system will submit an expense claim to the NDDPI Office of Specially Designed Services, which will cover the cost of the coursework.

Contact Information: For more details, visit the NDDPI’s Educator Pathway webpage at TEACHING ND - Education Pathway Project.

Update on SB 2032

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) rolled out the state-funded SB 2032 Para-to-Teacher Program on September 8, 2023. We had a phenomenal response and have now awarded all $3 million provided to the NDDPI by the Legislature.

The program funded 230 participants from across 60 districts. All ten Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) participating in this program had applicants approved in the program.

We are so pleased to announce that the SB 2032 funding in the amount of $3 million is in NDDPI's base budget, which means we will have these dollars for the foreseeable future. 

We will be releasing the new application in early 2025 for interested paras using a tiered approach. 

• Multicultural plan recipients
• Current paras in program
• Waitlist applicants
• Open to additional paras

SAEF Grant - Year Two

In July 2023, the NDDPI successfully secured SAEF Grant funding for our Registered Teacher Apprenticeship program. 

SAEF Competitive Grant

• July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2026
• $3,720,000

SAEF Base Grant

• July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024
• $311,338

We are pleased to share that earlier this month, the NDDPI was awarded a SAEF Base Grant year 2 in the amount of $389,661. The funding period is July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. This grant will allow us to retain Dr. Lynn Hammonds as our program manager and fund our data system, GeoSolutions.

Convening to Support Education Professions

In mid-June 2024, the Hunt Institute and USED sponsored three regional convenings designed to support state action to advance the education professions. A team from ND attended, which included staff from NDDPI, Career and Technical Education, the Education Standards and Practices Board and the University of North Dakota. Eleven different states attended the convening, where we all learned from each other and developed action items for the state to consider. North Dakota created the following two plans:

Youth Plan

We decided we would like the state to focus on pathways into the profession, by encouraging middle and high school students to pursue education careers. An outline of the plan is available here. 

Multicultural Plan

The purpose of this plan will be to create a more multicultural teaching pipeline in ND. A workgroup is being established to formulate our plan going forward. 

Governor’s Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force

It is well known that North Dakota teacher shortages have been slowly growing over the past several years, spreading across the state from the once most impacted rural districts, now to larger districts. There are an estimated 10,300 licensed teachers in North Dakota, yet only 9,100 worked in North Dakota school systems in 2023.

Governor Burgum through Executive Order created the Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force comprised of 15 members from diverse backgrounds, including former and current educators, administrators, lawmakers, and University System representatives.

The goal is to establish comprehensive recommendations to address various aspects of the teaching profession including strategies for increasing teaching profession recruitment and improving teacher preparation programs across the state.

The Task Force began meeting with the Hunt Institute in May 2024 to discuss three main topics of importance:

1. ND Educator Work Force Pathways
2. ND Educator Retention
3. ND Educator Compensation

A summary of key recommendations from these meetings can be found here.

In addition, the Hunt Institute has met with key stakeholders such as North Dakota State Teachers of the Year, North Dakota United, North Dakota School Boards Association, and North Dakota Council of Education Leaders to elicit their unique perspectives.

The Hunt Institute has collated and refined the recommendations from all sources and found three themes from this work:

1. Working conditions
2. Professional value and support
3. Flexible funding

Based on these themes, several recommendations have been formulated. The next phase of the project has begun. 

The recommendations will be finalized in August and presented to the Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction through a final report by September 30, 2024.

This monthly newsbrief is a collaborative partnership between the NDDPI and the ESPB. Questions can be addressed to the following:

Laurie Matzke, Assistant Superintendent, NDDPI

lmatzke@nd.gov at (701) 328-2284

Dr. Lynn Hammonds, RAP-T Program Manager

lhammonds@nd.gov at (701) 328-2072

Dr. Rebecca Pitkin, Executive Director, ESPB

rpitkin@nd.gov at (701) 328-9646