 October Educator Pathways and Workforce Development Newsletter
Greetings! We hope you find this month's
newsletter helpful and informative, there is much information to read through
below. One thing you might have noticed - we changed our name! The
Educator Pathways team has changed our name to Educator Pathways and
Workforce Development. We are advancing and expanding our work related to
addressing educator shortage and educator diversity through workforce
development initiatives responsive to workforce needs. We continue as always to
advance our programs that grow future educators, develop current educators, and
engage in policy and innovations.
EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next Paraeducator Board Meeting - November 15-16, 2017 Vancouver, WA
Meeting information, including
board materials and the agenda, can be found on the Paraeducator
website. Tuning into this meeting and/or signing up for the Paraeducator Board Newsletter is a great way to stay up to date on policy changes set by the Paraeducator Board.
PESB Special Meetings - Please be advised that meeting minutes are available from two special meetings recently held by the board. Minutes can be found on our website (at the bottom of the page).
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
At its September
Board meeting In Spokane, the Professional
Educator Standards Board received a presentation
from staff outlining the proposed legislative
budget platform for the 2018 legislative session. The board heard for
consideration and submission to the Governor’s office a funding request regarding
increased funding for Alternative Routes, Grow your Own Educators, and a
Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. These requests are the same requests submitted at the beginning of the 2017-19 legislative biennium. The board
unanimously approved the legislative funding proposals as presented by
staff.
The board is a state agency under
the purview of the Governor’s office. As such, the Governor’s office
requires a final review and approval of all agency policy and funding
requests. The three proposals approved by the Board have now been formally
submitted to the Governor’s office for final review and approval before heading
into the 2018 supplemental session. It is anticipated that the Governor’s
office will make a final determination either approving or denying agency
requests in the first weeks of December.
In preparation, agency staff are
working to develop supporting materials and advocacy plans for the items
approved by the board in anticipation of final approval from the Governor’s
office. For any questions regarding these request or the process in which they
were submitted, please contact Justin Montermini, agency Government Relations
staff. Justin.montermini@k12.wa.us or 360.402.8537.
GRANTS
Bilingual Teacher Initiative: The Recruiting Washington
Teachers - Bilingual Teachers Initiative (RWT – BEI)
application is now available! The RWT – BEI Pilot Project supports
recruiting, preparing, and mentoring bilingual high school students, in order
to prepare them to become future bilingual teachers and counselors in the state
of Washington. This program builds upon the Recruiting Washington Teachers
(RWT) program, supporting high school bilingual students to explore becoming
teachers in our state. Pilot sites will use the culturally responsive,
equity pedagogy based RWT Curriculum,
hosted by PESB. Grants will be available for districts or a district
partnership, with the requirement that there be at least one pilot site on
either side of the Cascades. Pilot projects will have the remainder of the
2017-2018 school year as a planning period and will launch in 2018-2019.
Applications are due by 5pm on November 17, 2017. For more information, please
see the RWT – BEI webpage.
Pilot to Policy: Advancing Systemic Equity: Grant application now open! This two year grant will build capacity for approved educator preparation programs to engage in deep, transformational work connected to racial equity, authentic community engagement, and cultural responsiveness. Funding awards are up to $10,000 per year. Grantees will also participate in a work group which will meet on a monthly and bimonthly basis over the course of the two years. They will undergo trainings, report on progress, share learnings, provide feedback, and serve as a collective committed to demonstrating results and best practices around this work. Get more info and the grant application on our website.
Alternative Route Block Grant: The Alternative Route Block
Grant application window has closed and applications will be reviewed November
3rd. If you are interested in being involved with the review
process, please contact the Educator Pathways team at pathways@k12.wa.us.
Reviewers must not have conflicts of interest and must be willing to
participate in a full day of review Friday, November 3rd. Some
pre-reading will also be required.
GET INVOLVED - upcoming surveys and work groups
Paraeducator Survey: The Paraeducator Board is
conducting a voluntary and confidential online
survey of all current
paraeducators in Washington State. If you are a paraeducator, please consider
completing this survey. By participating, you will directly help inform K-12
and higher education leaders as they determine policies regarding professional
development and career ladder programs for paraeducators. With your
assistance, we hope to more fully understand the level of interest
paraeducators have in participating in these programs, the barriers that exists
in their participation, and the support that paraeducators may need to
participate in them. If you are not a paraeducator, please consider forwarding
the survey link or this newsletter.
Testing Barriers Work Group: We have a few more slots for participation in PESB's state-wide Testing Barriers Work Group. The charge of this work group will be to
thoroughly investigate the barriers that testing creates for candidates. The
work group will explore current testing policies and processes and the adverse impact candidates of color and bilingual candidates entering the teacher
profession. In Spring of 2018, the group will develop recommendations that will go to the PESB Board and state legislature. To learn more please contact chelsea.whealdon@k12.wa.us
Human Resources Training Initiative: This training effort is underway and the Advisory Oversight committee has met.
Most materials for the training are complete, but much more is to be done. We
anticipate that the training will be made available to HR staff beginning in
the Spring of 2018.
Career and Technical Education Initiative:
PESB and the CTE office in OSPI are working towards an effort to assist the CTE
system to improve licensure regulations and preparation program improvements.
The work will commence in the next months - stay tuned, and contact us for more information.
Help Us Share our Newsletters
As a reminder, our agency has three newsletters! The "PESB News of Note," the "Paraeducator Board Newsletter" and the "Educator Pathways and Workforce Development Newsletter." We want to make sure folks know where and how to sign-up to get the information they need through these newsletters.
The "PESB News of Note" is a great way to stay up to date about Board decisions, meetings, and policy and research updates. The Paraeducator Board Newsletters is also a great way to get information about Paraboard meetings, updates, and policy items. If you or your colleagues would benefit from monthly updates in any of these areas, please consider signing up! These are helpful ways for us to communicate with our stakeholders.
Sign-up for any or all of the newsletters and follow our team on Twitter @DiverseWATeach
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