THE STATE HAS AWARDED SEVERAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS GRANTS THROUGH
THE TEACHER DIVERSIFICATION PILOT PROGRAM.
AMHERST, HOLYOKE AND SPRINGFIELD RECEIVED THE
GRANTS.
CAROLEE MCGRATH SAT DOWN WITH BETH GAGE, THE CHIEF OF TALENT
FOR HOLYOKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND RECRUITING MANAGER KELLY CURRAN
-- TO LEARN MORE.
>> THIS IS THE SECOND TIME WE RECEIVED THE TEACHER DIVERSITY
INDICATION GRAND -- DIVERSIFICATION GRANT.
THIS TIME WE WERE AWARDED AROUND 367 AND SOME CHANGE.
THIS YEAR WE'RE USING IT FOR THE TEACH MASS PROGRAM WHICH I
BELIEVE THEY WERE ON YOUR SHOW NOT TOO LONG AGO SO THE MONEY
WILL BE GOING TOWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS FOR RESIDENTS.
TRADITIONALLY, IT'S BEEN PEOPLE RECRUITED FROM OUTSIDE BUT WE'RE
TRYING TO RECRUIT FROM WITHIN AND BRING THEIR TALENT TO BECOME
TEACHERS.
SO WE HAVE -- I BELIEVE IT'S 17 SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE.
AND IT'S AN ACCELERATED TEACHER LICENSURE PROGRAM WHERE THEY GET
THE TRAINED DURING THE SPRING AND THEY WORK IN OUR SUMMER
PROGRAM AND THEN THEY WILL BECOME TEACHERS OF RECORD IN THE
FALL.
AND THEN THE SECOND THING WE WERE GRANTED WAS RECRUITMENT
BONUSES SO THIS WOULD BE ANYTHING FROM SIGN-ON BONUSES
FROM HIGH NEEDS AREAS, HARD TO FILL POSITIONS TO RELOCATION
BONUSES BECAUSE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT TEACHERS THAT COME
ANOTHER COMMUNITY WILL BE DEDICATED TO HOLYOKE AND STAY IN
HOLYOKE SO WE WANT TO MAKE THAT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE FOR THEM,
AND THE NEXT BUCKET OF MONEY WE RECEIVED IS A PARTNERSHIP FROM
UMASS FOR OUR CURRENT PROGRAMS TO START A PATHWAY TO BECOME
TEACHERS.
>> OKAY.
SO REALLY ENENCOURAGE THEM TO -- ENCOURAGE THEM IT OFF GO INTO
THAT PROGRESSION.
IS IT TO EXPOSE THEM OR TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO GO IN THAT
PROGRAM.
>> WE WANT TO HAVE A TEACHERS CLUB WHERE THEY START TO GET
CULTIVATED AND WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A TEACHER.
THEY'LL HAVE INTERNSHIPS, HOPEFULLY, IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS
AS JUNIORS AND SENIORS.
IT'S STILL IN THE BEGINNING PHASES.
>> RIGHT.
>> SO ONCE WE RECEIVE THE MONEY -- WE HAD A MEETING WITH
UMASS AND NOW WE'RE WORKING ON THE DETAILS AT THIS POINT.
>> HOW WOULD YOU SAY WITH YOUR LINE OF WORK IN THE CLASSROOM.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT FOR YOU?
>> I MEAN, IT'S ONE OF OUR NUMBER 1 PRIORITIES.
I THINK LIKE THESE 3 PRIORITIES THAT WE'RE SPEAKING TO
SPECIFICALLY TODAY.
I MEAN, WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW THAT PLAYS INTO OUR STRATEGY,
YOU KNOW, THE TEACH WESTERN MASS RESIDENCY PROGRAM IS WHERE WE'RE
GETTING -- WE'RE DEDICATING MOST OF THE FUNDING THAT WE RECEIVED
THROUGH THIS GRANT, TOO, THAT'S $227,000.
WE -- I THINK WHY THAT'S IMPORTANT IS ALREADY STRUCTURED
TO REDUCE BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE TO ENTER INTO THE PROFESSION.
THIS IS PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR AND, YOU
KNOW, I THINK WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW WITH THE
SUPPORT OF THIS STATE TO ACTUALLY EVEN ELIMINATE THE COST
BARRIER THAT SOME OF THIS CANDIDATES FACE.
>> AND DO THESE CANDIDATES HAVE ALREADY A BACHELOR'S IN
EDUCATION?
AND THEN IT'S THE ADDITIONAL, RIGHT, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO
BACK AND GET YOUR MASTERS AND THEN TALKING ABOUT YOUR
LICENSURE.
>> FOR THIS PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR THEY DO HAVE TO HAVE
A BACHELOR'S DEGREE.
IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO BE IN EDUCATION, THOUGH.
SO THIS DOES ALLOW THEM TO GO BACK -- IT IS AN ACCELERATED
ALTERNATE PATHWAY, SO IT DOES NOT GET THEM LIKE A MASTER'S
DEGREE BUT IT WILL LEAD THEM TO INITIAL CERTIFICATION WITH THE
STATE.
>> HE CAN ON, WHAT IS THE MAKEUP OF HOLYOKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
TEACHERS OF COLOR IN THE CLASSROOM.
>> YEAH, DO YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT.
>> SURE.
SO OUR MOST RECENT SNAPSHOT WHICH WAS THE WEEK OF DECEMBER
4TH WE WERE AT 23% TEACHERS OF COLOR IN THE DISTRICT AND JUST
AN INTERESTING NOTE, SINCE THE SCHOOL YEAR, 2015, WHEN THAT
SCHOOL YEAR BEGAN, IT WAS 13% SO NOW ABOUT 5 YEARS LATER WE'RE AT
23 WHICH IN NUMBERS IS AN ADDITIONAL 41 TEACHERS OF COLOR,
AND OUT OF THE THOSE 21 IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC, WHICH IS THE
LARGEST POPULATION IN HOLYOKE, SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE
MORE HISPANIC TEACHERS.
>> AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE FOR KIDS
AND THE SUCCESS OF KIDS HAVING SOMEBODY WHO'S A TEACHER WHO IS
A TEACHER OF COLOR OR COMES FROM, YOU KNOW, THEIR SIMILAR
BACKGROUND, HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT?
>> I THINK THERE'S MORE AND MORE STUDIES JUST SHOWING WHAT A
POSITIVE IMPACT IT CAN HAVE ON LEARNING.
ONE OF THE MOST RECENT STUDIES THAT WE FOUND IS A BLACK STUDENT
WHO HAS AT LEAST ONE BLACK EDUCATOR BEFORE THIRD GRADE IS
13% MORE LIKELY TO ENROLL IN COLLEGE AND IF THAT -- IF THEY
HAVE TO HAVE TWO BLACK EDUCATORS, THAT INCREASES TO
ABOUT 32% MORE LIKELY TO ENROLL IN COLLEGE.
SO THOSE ARE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT
WE'RE SETTING UP AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS BEST FOR STUDENT
LEARNING.
>> AND WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM TEACHERS, YOU KNOW, JUST IN
GENERAL IN THE DISTRICT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
DIVERSIFICATION.
THEY MUST BE EXCITED ABOUT SOME OF THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES, YES?
>> I THINK BOTH TEACHERS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS WE HAVE A
LARGE POPULATION OF HISPANIC PARAPROFESSIONALS WHO LIKE BETH
SPOKE TO EARLIER DON'T HAVE THE ADVANTAGES OF GOING TO COLLEGE
BECAUSE THEIR SALARY'S LOWER OR JUST OTHER BARRIERS IN THE WAY
SO I THINK THEY'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE PATHWAYS AND THE SUPPORT
THEY'RE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
>> AND SPEAKING TO THAT A LITTLE BIT, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE TALKED
ABOUT OUR TEACHING POPULATION OUR PARA POPULATION MUCH MORE
CLOSELY MIRRORS OUR STUDENT POPULATION SO IT IS A PRIORITY
AREA FOR US TO BUILD A SMITH PATHWAY AND TRANSITION FOR THEM
INTO TEACHERS.
THERE ARE ABOUT 65% OF COLOR AND ABOUT 65% OF THEM LIVE RIGHT IN
HOLYOKE WHICH I THINK MATTERS IN THIS WORK THAT THEY HAVE THOSE
DEEP COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS BECAUSE WE ARE MORE LIKELY TO
RETAIN THEM AT THAT POINT.
>> YES, SO YOU DID TALK ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, BEING FROM THE
COMMUNITY THAT THEY'RE INVESTED IN THE COMMUNITY THEY KNOW THE
KIDS AND THEY'RE LIKELY TO KNOW THE PARENTS AND YOU TALK ABOUT
RETAINING THEM.
HOW DO YOU DO ABOUT LONG-TERM AND LAY OUT FOR THEM HEY, LISTEN
THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK AND WE WANT TO KEEP YOU
HERE, HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
>> RIGHT, WE'VE BEEN WORKING IN THE PAST WORKING ON RETENTION.
RECENTLY WE STARTED AFFINITY GROUPS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR TO
HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM IN THE DISTRICT.
WE HAVE A SPECIALIZED PD.
THIS YEAR, I THINK, WE HAVE 8 DAYS DEDICATED TO TEACHER PD
WHERE THEY HAVE MORE CHOICE AND GET TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY'RE BEING
INVOLVED IN BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE A SPECIFIC PATHWAY TO
REVERSEDFICATION OR OTHER SKILLS -- RECERTIFICATION OR
OTHER SKILLS.
>> AND YOU'LL SEE OTHER STRATEGIES DEPENDING ON THE
CULTURE THAT EXIST THERE BUT WE DO HAVE THESE DISTRICT-WIDE AS
WELL BUT SIMPLE THINGS LIKE RECOGNIZING EMPLOYEES MAKING
SURE, LIKE, THEY DO HAVE THESE SUPPORT SYSTEMS SET UP, YOU
KNOW, PARTICULARLY FOR OUR TEACHERS OF COLOR WHO -- I THINK
TEND TO HAVE A HIGHER TURNOVER RATE OR HISTORICALLY AT LEAST SO
WE REALLY JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE AN OUT WHERE
THEY'RE NOT FEELING LIKE THEY'RE NOT FEELING ISOLATED FROM THE
REST OF THE STAFF AND I THINK THE PD ALSO SPEAKS TO THAT
BECAUSE WE'RE TRAINING EVERYBODY ON, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPING AN
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS, ALL STAFF.
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