TROOPS TO TEACHERS
Abstract
The Lewis and Clark Troops to Teachers Program (LCTTP) will support military members and veterans efforts to enter the teaching profession, with a particular focus on high need schools and subject areas. LCTTP serves a consortium of seven states with a combined military and veteran population of over 1.2 million. The consortium arrangement ensures that military members and veterans in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming are represented and served by the Troops to Teachers (TTT) program. In these largely rural states the program will emphasize placing veterans in rural communities including schools on and near the region’s American Indian reservations, as well as in high needs urban areas. LCTTP will be housed at Montana State University (MSU), a land-grant university that hosts robust teacher preparation programs, and innovative outreach programs to rural and reservation communities. MSU and LCTTP have abundant experience in working with nontraditional teacher candidates eager to utilize their prior education and work experience in their teaching. To this end, the Montana Office of Public Instruction will subcontract with Montana State University to conduct the program. MSU and the LCTTP will partner with the national TTT office to provide outreach and support services under the consortium arrangement with the seven states that have previously worked together under the Lewis and Clark regional umbrella. Consortium goals are derived from the National Troops to Teachers goals as outlined in the funding opportunity announcement. Primary objectives of the consortium are to 1) reconnect with former program participants and identify new eligible participants by conducting a multidimensioned outreach program, 2) support participants in their career transition from the military to teaching in America’s K-12 public schools by providing individualized counseling and placement assistance, and 3) connect participants with new teaching jobs while placing a priority on high need schools including rural, reservation and urban communities. Specific activities will include conducting an outreach program to targeted populations across the consortium, assuming responsibility for participants referred by the National Office and other TTT offices, advising participants of employment opportunities in school districts, providing individualized counseling to help participants understand teacher certification requirements, connecting participants with approved teacher training programs, assisting participants to negotiate the award of credit for prior military experience and training, identifying high needs school districts for participants, providing participants with placement assistance by connecting them with school district hiring authorities, and conducting resume reviews and mock interviews. LCTTP has a history of developing long-term channels of communication and collaboration amidst a network of stakeholders, including veterans and the organizations that serve them; state offices of education; teacher preparation and licensure programs; public school districts; as well as the general public, whose understanding and support provide the healthy context for the program’s continuing success. The objectives will be accomplished by three full time program employees located at MSU mentored by an MSU Professor of Education/Curriculum & Instruction with expertise in non-traditional and on-line teacher preparation and university administration. This team will work in collaboration with a part-time Participant Services Specialist/State Representative located in each state. The project will begin April 17, 2017.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 19, 2017
- Source ID
- N002441710032
Entities
People
- Jay Phillips
Organizations
- United States Department of Defense