East Stroudsburg University’s College of Education announced an upcoming Future Teacher Pathway Summit on June 7-8, 2023. The summit will be held on ESU’s campus.
“With the number of teacher candidates and certification drastically declining over the past 10 years in the state of Pennsylvania, it has become critical for institutions of higher education (IHE) and local education associations to think creatively about manning the future workforce,” said Dr. Brooke K. Langan, dean of the College of Education. With this goal in mind, Dr. Langan hosted a Future Teacher Pathway Kickoff in April to discuss a structured framework that would combine the efforts of ESU, Northampton Community College, and a dozen local school districts in solving the shortage long term.
“With resounding support from all involved in the Kickoff, a summit was proposed to bring parties together to collaboratively develop the specifics of this crucial initiative,” Langan said. The vision of this program is to educate local high school students on the benefits of the education profession and support these individuals from ninth grade through college and then through their first year of teaching.
The framework for this project is grounded in the recently released Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Teacher Recruitment Toolkit. This research-driven approach pairs school districts with IHEs to work collaboratively in the development of future teacher clubs/academies which develop cohorts of students to learn more about a profession in education.
Additionally, nationally there is a deficit of educators who mirror the demographics of their students. This pathway initiative, supported by the PDE Prep 2 Practice grant, will research the causes for low interest in education careers by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and will include added elements for educating and recruiting students of color into the field of education.
The Future Teacher Pathway Summit will include administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors from the following educational institutions: East Stroudsburg School District, Stroudsburg School District, Pocono Mountain School District, Pleasant Valley School District, Delaware Valley School District, Nazareth School District, Wilson School District, Bethlehem School District, Allentown School District, Easton School District, CIU20, Monroe County Career and Technical Institute, Hanover School District, Commonwealth Charter Academy, Northampton Community College, and the Pocono United Way. The Future Teacher Pathway initiative is slated to begin implementation this fall with the commencement of the new academic year.
School districts interested in registering for the summit should work through their superintendent’s office. For more information on this collaborative partnership, please contact Dr. Brooke K. Langan, dean of the College of Education, at (570) 422-3619.