OLD TOWN, Maine — Schools across the country are well into the school year, and school districts across the U.S. and right here in Maine still have several vacant teacher positions and not enough educators to fill the classrooms.
However, Old Town area schools in RSU 34 started the school year with all their positions filled with the help of the Educator Accelerator program.
Through the program, local college students at the University of Maine, Husson University, and Eastern Maine Community College are able to work at schools in the RSU 34 school district as pre-service teachers.
Assistant superintendent of RSU 34 schools Jon Doty said this year's group of student teachers is the program's fifth cohort.
Doty said giving students the opportunity to work in the classroom while they complete their undergraduate degree creates a win-win situation for everyone.
"They’re much more ready to enter the classroom on their own because they have hundreds and hundreds more hours than their peers—and that makes them much more likely to survive and thrive in their first few years as a teacher," Doty said.
College students in the program are paired with teacher assistants and experienced teachers who mentor them throughout the school year.
Doty said not having to worry about filling vacant teacher positions allows his staff to improve classroom functions.
Because classrooms are fully staffed, experienced teachers are also able to teach smaller class sizes, offering more focused learning to students who need more support, Doty said.
University of Maine College of Education and Human Development Dean Penny Bishop said aspiring educators are able to gain real experience, which helps them better determine if education is the right field for them.
"We want them to have multiple opportunities to hone their skills, but also to make sure this is a good match for them," Bishop said.
Bishop said educators who are new to the field should be in classrooms early and often.
Being a first-year teacher can be hard, and Bishop said the less prepared teachers feel, the less likely they are to continue working in education.
"When people are put into classrooms without that experience, they tend to turnover faster," Bishop said. "It's really detrimental to kids. We also know that the less prepared teachers end up in communities that have fewer resources."
Teachers who are more prepared and who have more classroom experience secure better jobs, and they also are more knowledgeable about which teaching methods work best for various learning styles.
Doty said he believes getting experience early on can help schools retain new educators.
"The attrition rate for teachers in their first few years nationwide is really disturbing. And so, some of that comes from no feeling prepared—not feeling successful," Doty said. "So, you know, the more experience we can give people while they’re undergrads—the more likely they are to stay in the classroom—you know, and thrive after those first couple of years."
Bishop said the program also provides an affordable pathway to choosing the profession.
"Something that many people don't know about the teaching profession is that the student teaching experience, typically the capstone—the end of the profession's training, is often a semester long. Sometimes a year. But that's an unpaid internship," Bishop said. "When you look at teaching compared to other professions, business, engineering, for example, medicine, those are all paid internships. In fact, education is one of the only professions that doesn't pay its interns."
Bishop explained that many aspiring teachers have to pay to be in schools and complete many hours of student teaching to fulfill their degree requirements.
Bishop said the financial disadvantages of pursuing a career in education make it harder for students to reach their goals. She said the program helps "bust through" and ease the financial challenges students are faced with when they decide they want to be an educator.
The Educator Accelerator program is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (AMRP), but funds will no longer be available after September of next year.
Currently, pre-service teachers are paid $15 per hour, and they teach as much as three times a week.
Doty said the district is working to find ways to continue funding the program once AMRP funds are no longer available.