DENVER – March 4, 2021: A total of 12,333 teacher candidates enrolled in Colorado educator preparation programs during the 2018-19 academic year, an increase of 9.2% during a recent four-year period —from 11,297 in 2015-16 according to a report and interactive dashboard from the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and Colorado Department of Education (CDE). The number of teacher candidates completing their programs increased 7.5%— in 2015-2016, 3,163 completed their program while in 2018-19, 3,401 completed.
Enrollment in alternative preparation programs jumped 44.2% since the 2015-16 academic year. Gains were seen in both alternative and traditional preparation programs in high-need content areas; for example, the number of candidates pursuing an early childhood education endorsement grew 16% from 813 in 2015-16 to 944 in 2018-19.
Despite overall gains in enrollment, candidates of color continue to be underrepresented in traditional educator preparation programs. Non-Hispanic white teacher candidates made up 75% of teacher candidates, followed by Hispanic candidates at 12.7%. African American candidates made up only 2.4% of program enrollees, yet 34.2% of Colorado students are Hispanic and 4.5% are Black. Promisingly, alternative preparation programs are attracting a relatively high proportion of male candidates. For the 2018-19 academic year, approximately one out of three (34.3%) alternative licensure candidates were male, compared to 22.8% of traditional route candidates.
"While this global pandemic has certainly made us appreciate educators in new and different ways, I hope it's also inspired more Coloradans to pursue the profession, especially candidates of color," said Dr. Angie Paccione, executive director for CDHE. "We have yet to see the full effects of COVID-19 on the educator workforce, but what we do know is that educator preparation providers have an important role in both the recruitment and retention of educators that reflect the increasingly diverse population of Colorado students."
The report looks at students in traditional and alternative educator preparation programs. In the traditional route, candidates take coursework from an approved public or private college or university that often leads to a degree, and they then can apply for licensure. The state also has designated agencies that offer alternative educator preparation programs to provide additional coursework or training for Coloradans who already hold a bachelor's degree.
"We're pleased to see that the intense focus on educator recruitment and retention over the last several years is yielding more teachers preparing to enter our schools," said Colorado Education Commissioner Katy Anthes. "While we are excited about this trend, we realize that there is much more work to do. We will continue to focus on increasing a high quality, talented pipeline of teachers, while also retaining the great teachers we have in our classrooms."
Educator shortage
Based on the Statewide Educator Shortage Survey, conducted annually by CDE, local education agencies such as school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) reported 7,242 open teacher positions for the 2019-20 school year. Most were presumed to have been filled through traditional hiring practices, however, 147 (2%) remained unfilled for the entire school year and 985 (13.6%) were filled using a temporary shortage procedure. Though we have evidence that recent initiatives have had an effect, educator shortages still exist; and some districts are unsure of the impact of the pandemic on the workforce.
Tools and resources
In 2020, an expanded version of the EPP Report featuring an interactive dashboard was created to report outcome metrics of Colorado educator preparation providers. Enrollment, completion and new teacher performance and retention are documented, as are contextual factors that describe new teacher employment.
Launched in 2019, TEACH Colorado is a statewide coalition of education institutions, government, philanthropy, and nonprofit stakeholders committed to improving the perception of teaching and recruiting the next generation of teachers in Colorado. With an emphasis on diversifying the profession, the program provides free support to anyone considering applying to a Colorado educator preparation program, including one-on-one coaching, application checklists, application fee reimbursements, and scholarships.
TEACH Colorado partners with more than 90% of Colorado educator preparation programs. TEACH Colorado's Year One target was to have 194 TEACH Colorado subscribers apply to a Colorado educator preparation program. The program reached 186% of its goal (360 subscribers applied to an EPP). Twenty-eight percent of TEACH Colorado-supported applicants identified as people of color.
Troops to Teachers Colorado continues to exceed established national and state objectives in its third year of a five-year federal grant. With 344 Colorado military veterans hired in the last 2.5 years, the Troops to Teachers Colorado team also expanded service to non-military education candidates by providing preparation, licensing and placement assistance to 2,432 current and future educators. In addition to maintaining an active educator pipeline for future hire during the COVID-19 pandemic, Troops to Teachers Colorado increased support to all Colorado educators and school districts with professional development activities including online and remote learning best practices and substitute training.
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