Thirty-five paraprofessionals from School District U-46 have begun their employer-paid pursuit of NIU bachelor’s degrees in Special Education.
Part of the College of Education’s PLEDGE-Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators initiative, the new Licensed Educator Accelerated Pathway (LEAP) program provides a fast-track to the classroom including credit for prior learning.
Students enjoy the benefits of a dynamic and evening course schedule tailored to the lives of working adults and an NIU-furnished “completion coach” who will assist with skills related to studying and test-taking as well as the use of technology.
Also included is after-hours academic advising from the Office for Student Success and access to peer academic coaches.
Candidates take two courses during each eight-week session, each with one face-to-face or synchronous meeting and one asynchronous module weekly. Student-teaching in U-46 and graduation will take place in the spring semester of 2023.
Laura Hedin, chair of the Department of Special and Early Education, is certain that LEAP will help U-46 and northern Illinois to better staff its schools: Another regional cohort is on tap to begin soon in Rockford with licensure candidates from various districts, including DeKalb.
“We all know that there’s a huge teacher shortage in special education: Over 750 positions in Illinois went unfilled or were filled with folks who do not have the correct licensure in special education,” Hedin says. “That is really detrimental to students who qualify for specially designed instruction under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.”
Compounding the problem, she adds, are high attrition rates in special education rooted in teachers who leave the profession altogether or who move to different districts in search of higher pay or more favorable working conditions.
Yet “we knew that there was a large number of paraeducators and teacher-assistants who work in classrooms with students with special needs, and that if they only had the opportunity, and if some of the barriers to become educator-licensed were removed, they would be happy to take that step and upskill,” Hedin says. “They already know the community. They know the students they’re working with. They’re happy with the district.”
Suzanne Johnson, deputy superintendent of Instruction in U-46, is acutely aware of the myriad human resource challenges facing education and the benefits of school-university partnerships.
“Like so many school districts across the nation, we are struggling to retain and recruit special education teachers. Thus, it has become essential to create a pathway for School District U-46 paraeducators to become LBS1-certified teachers,” Johnson says. “By partnering with NIU, we are confident this group of educators will be well equipped to provide optimal equity focused instruction to enhance student outcomes.”
U-46 is tapping into its allotment of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to pay the costs of attendance for its LEAP-enrolled employees.
In return for that investment, and in accordance with the core philosophy of the “grow-your-own” model, those new Huskies are likely to remain in U-46 as full-time teachers.
“This new initiative is a great ‘grow-your-own’ program as the paraeducators are already familiar with our students, community and district practices and procedures,” says Leatrice Satterwhite, director of Specialized Student Services in U-46.
“U-46 gladly welcomed the opportunity to partner once again with NIU to address staffing shortages,” Satterwhite adds. “There were close to 150 paraeducators interested in obtaining LBS-1 and/or Early Childhood teaching certification. We prioritized our list by looking at those individuals with associate degrees or higher, three or more years in the district and attendance.”
Hedin also is proud that more than half of U-46’s licensure candidates are people of color, including Black, Latinx and Asian Pacific Islander.
“This means that special education, which has been traditionally under-representative of teachers of color, is now going to have an infusion of culturally diverse teachers,” Hedin says. “This just enriches the profession so much.”
Instructor Kim Suedbeck, completion coach Lisa Gorchels, program coordinator Lydia Gerzel-Short and Hedin met face-to-face with the U-46 cohort in December.
Suedbeck and Anna Ruehs, both of whom are visiting assistant professors in the Department of Special and Early Education, will provide continuity of instruction for the licensure candidates while nurturing a strong connection.
“We had such energy in the room – such enthusiastic participants,” Hedin says. “These folks are so highly motivated.”
David Walker, associate dean for Academic Affairs, trusts that the students will remain that way.
Key to his assertion is that the Elementary Education component of PLEDGE, a grow-your-own partnerships among U-46, Elgin Community College and NIU, boasts 100% retention and persistence to graduation.
Looking at LEAP in particular, “we’re working with adult learners – the paraprofessionals – and making the teaching profession, the four-year degree and the licensure accessible.”
“We renovated our curriculum. We’re innovative with modality of teaching and learning as well as the duration of the semester,” Walker says. “We’re really excited about LEAP, and we hope to continue to serve interested students and grow the program and its opportunities.”
Jennifer Johnson, the College of Education’s senior director for Student Success, agrees. LEAP achieves the “perfect balance” expected of any school-university collaboration, she says.
“NIU has a long history of proven, successful partnerships and initiatives with U-46,” Johnson says. “The design of the LEAP model supports the district’s capacity to fill high-need teaching positions while allowing students to remain in their community and maintain their salaries for the duration of the program, including all of their clinical field experiences.”
