Grow Your Research Articles

Program design and exemplary practices for preparing Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers

Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (TOCIT) has gained traction in recent years in educational scholarship. Yet very few studies have evaluated teacher education programs that prepare TOCIT within the U.S. context or have focused on the promising pedagogical practices used to prepare TOCIT. The challenge of doing program evaluation resides in the different institutional contexts and the limited time teacher education researchers have to look holistically and systematically at program design and evaluation. However, we can talk about exemplary practices that have been supportive in preparing TOCIT. This article describes various teacher education pedagogical and theoretical practices that have been used in the preparation of TOCIT within different types of teacher education programs. We discuss two common types of teacher education programs—traditional and alternative. We also discuss the policy landscape for these teacher education program types, focusing on practices used in TOCIT preparation. Recommendations are suggested for policymakers to work intentionally toward creating a diverse teacher workforce and providing support—resources and financial—throughout teachers’ careers. Keywords Teachers of color, Indigenous teachers, alternative certification programs, Grow Your Own, residency programs

Grow Your Own School Mental Health Specialists: A Policy Pilot to Address Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages in Schools.

The capacity of schools to address behavioral health concerns presents an emerging challenge, exacerbated by major shortages in the workforce. Schools across the U.S. are struggling to hire licensed behavioral health professionals, with additional barriers encountered when seeking to hire practitioners with experience in educational settings. In 2023, a school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, partnered with The Ohio State University to launch a "grow your own" policy pilot. The priorities focused on addressing workforce shortages and leveraging the experiences of current teachers/staff to support growing needs related to student mental health and well-being. More specifically, the district utilized COVID-19 relief funds to recruit, train, and transition 25 teachers/staff into school mental health positions by underwriting the costs of each professional's Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Here, we (a) describe the district-university partnership and the processes guiding the implementation of the "grow your own" model, (b) distill preliminary findings about district needs regarding behavioral health, and (c) explore facilitators, barriers, and outcomes associated with learning among participants in the program. The findings from a district-wide staff survey indicated a high level of need for individual counseling, crisis intervention, and small group interventions. Additionally, qualitative interviews revealed that learning among the program's participants was facilitated by effective classroom strategies and specific learning experiences integral to the program's design. These facilitators supported key learning outcomes, including general social work knowledge, self-awareness, and therapeutic skills that are foundational for engaging with students, parents/families, teachers/staff, and the broader school community. This innovative policy pilot and training model demonstrate how universities and local educational agencies can partner to address workforce development challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and education.

Teaching Grow Your Own (GYO) Programs: A Deeper Discussion of a Teaching GYO with a College Campus Immersion Experience

Teaching Grow Your Own (GYO) Programs: A Deeper Discussion of a Teaching GYO with a College Campus Immersion Experience

A Digital Platform for Home-Based Exercise Prescription for Older People with Sarcopenia.

Digital therapeutics refers to smartphone applications, software, and wearable devices that provide digital solutions to improve healthcare delivery. We developed a digital platform to support the GYM (Grow Your Muscle) study, an ongoing 48-week randomized, controlled trial on reduction of sarcopenia through a home-based, app-monitored physical exercise intervention. The GYM platform consists of a smartphone application including the exercise program and video tutorials of body-weight exercises, a wearable device to monitor heart rate during training, and a website for downloading training data to remotely monitor the exercise. The aim of this paper is to describe the platform in detail and to discuss the technical issues emerging during the study and those related to usability of the smartphone application through a retrospective survey. The main technical issue concerned the API level 33 upgrade, which did not enable participants using the Android operating systems to use the wearable device. The survey revealed some problems with viewing the video tutorials and with internet or smartphone connection. On the other hand, the smartphone application was reported to be easy to use and helpful to guide home exercising. Despite the issues encountered during the study, this digital-supported physical exercise intervention could provide useful to improve muscle measures of sarcopenia.

Launch and Grow Your Major Grants Program

Launch and Grow Your Major Grants Program

Grow Your Member Numbers Using LinkedIn

Grow Your Member Numbers Using LinkedIn

Paraprofessional to Teacher: Attracting and Preparing Special Educators for a Critical Shortage

As the teacher shortage continues to sweep the country, Grow Your Own (GYO) programs designed to attract and prepare more individuals into the teaching ranks are gaining national attention, particularly those targeting special education. Assisting paraprofessionals who work with students with disabilities has long been considered as one strategy among the array of ideas to grow more teachers and retain them. The solution includes GYOs that provide paraprofessionals with tuition support to earn their degrees and teaching certificates. Yet, little is known about outcomes of programs that fund paraprofessionals to become teachers. The state of Florida funded GYO program has compiled outcome data on more than 200 paraprofessionals who received tuition support to obtain their degrees. Data support the notion that when provided with financial assistance, paraprofessionals do earn their degrees and apply for teaching certification. Retention data also indicate that they remain certified at commendable levels.

Exploring Careers in Education and Leadership (ExCEL): Outcomes from year one of a high school education camp

PurposeThe paper aims to address the increasing issue of teacher shortages and the lack of diversity in America’s educators. Highly diverse communities need ways to support community members interested in careers as teachers. This article explores one promising approach to reach and inspire high school students considering the teaching profession. Camp ExCEL (Exploring Careers in Education and Leadership) provided a pathway allowing rising high school seniors an opportunity to explore the teaching profession. This pathway utilized the Grow Your Own framework, recruiting students from a diverse community and providing them resources and information that would further efforts to become an educator within their community.Design/methodology/approachThe current study examined outcomes from an education summer camp, using qualitative thematic analysis to reflexively interpret participants’ (n = 29) feelings and beliefs about effective teaching, culturally responsive teaching (CRT), project-based learning (PBL) and their camp experience. Data were collected using Google documents and surveys. The four connected themes that emerged were obstacles and barriers to teaching, qualities of an effective teacher, the impact of culturally responsive teaching and project-based learning on classrooms, and the importance of mentorships within education.FindingsThe paper provides insight about how an education camp can support high school students as they explore a career in education. Results suggest that focus on high-quality pedagogy can support student understanding of the career. Students also suggested their perception of effective teaching that includes acknowledging the needs of the whole student, modeling high-quality teaching practices and displaying positive professional dispositions.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to conduct and examine education camps further.Practical implicationsThe paper includes implications for the development of other education camps, especially in areas with highly diverse populations.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to increase the number of persons pursuing a career in education. The focus on a highly diverse community is also an area of need in education. This article details the description of an education camp and the curriculum used, along with findings from data collected during the first year.

‘Grow your own’: optimising the contribution of the occupational therapy support workforce

This article describes an innovative approach to workforce development that has been modelled across an integrated care system. Triangulating evidence from published research, an expert panel, economic modelling and discovery workshops with practitioners, including support staff, the cost and benefits of the strategy, which is based on NHS England's allied health professions support workforce programme, were evaluated. The evaluation suggests that investing in support worker development delivers substantial benefits, not just for support workers, but also for registered staff, employers, patients, and more widely. The approach can be used across occupational groups.

Preparing Community Teachers Early: Exploring Aspiring Teacher Learning and Identity Development in a Grow Your Own Program

ABSTRACT This qualitative study examined a group of aspiring teachers who completed a pre-collegiate Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher program. The goals of the GYO program were to recruit and introduce high school students to the teaching profession and facilitate their transition to a teacher education program and eventually back to teaching in their communities. Findings showed that learning foundational knowledge about teaching and engaging in teaching activities in the GYO program provided early opportunities for participants to experience various aspects of being a teacher and begin constructing identities as teachers. Participants also developed an increased awareness of diversity and equity issues related to education in their communities and started accumulating knowledge and strategies as culturally responsive, community-oriented teachers. Mentorship from their teachers further fostered their sense of belonging to the teaching profession and ongoing teacher identity development. Research implications and recommendations for teacher education programs and policy makers to strengthen and sustain GYOs and district-university-community partnerships in teacher preparation were discussed.

Examining the perceptions of teacher candidates’ participating in a state-funded “Grow your own” initiative and exploring strategies that will retain them

ABSTRACT This article addresses a familiar topic, teaching shortages across the United States. To situate our study, we explore the impact that Grow Your Own (GYO) programs are making across K-12 schools and within communities in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States. Then, we share the perceptions of teacher candidates who participated in a GYO effort at our public university. Findings suggest that academic, social, and professional opportunities, as well as community engagement, such as field trips to educational settings in the area, were key to candidates’ wanting to remain in the program. Implications specific to diversifying the teacher pipeline are also discussed.

“Homegrown” Latinx educator pathways: the challenges and possibilities for early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACTThis study highlights a critical case that can serve as a programmatic and conceptual model for institutional partnerships seeking to diversify the early childhood education (ECE) teaching profession with “homegrown” Latinx teachers. The case study explored the experiences of Latinx students in an ECE program at a regional, public 4-year university who participated in a Grow Your Own (GYO) program at their high schools and/or local community college. The student-centered qualitative case study addressed: What obstacles have GYO Latinx teacher candidates experienced as they transferred to a 4-year university teacher education program? What can we learn about how they made sense of and responded to these challenges for improving the way in which early childhood teacher education programs might extend and transform GYO initiatives at the university level to support the retention and continued success of Latinx teacher candidates? Using a combination of interviews and focus groups, and Latinx Critical Theory, this study demonstrated that once at the university, GYO Latinx students struggled with increased financial strain, entrance requirements into teacher education, and commuting. Stressed across the interviews was the importance of building a critical learning community, in which relationships could be nurtured in culturally sustaining and place-based ways.

Dealing confidently with feedback: the impact of a Grow Your Academic Resilience workshop

A key concern for educators is that students actively receive, engage with, and implement their academic feedback. However, increasing evidence suggests that students in HE do not engage well with feedback. One way to address this concern is to look at how we can develop feedback literacy in students, which requires a level of academic resilience. Resilience in an academic context is known to increase retention and students’ engagement in their learning, as well as supporting workplace readiness. This research looks at students’ readiness and willingness to engage with their academic feedback and assesses whether learning about academic resilience can improve feedback engagement. Two cohorts of students were identified to take part in a Grow Your Academic Resilience (GYAR) Workshop. Using a mixed methods approach, participants were invited to complete a pre- and post-session questionnaire. Participants quantitatively rated their pre- and post-session confidence about dealing constructively with academic feedback, while free-text responses provided qualitative data. Findings suggest that offering students practical tools and strategies increases their willingness and confidence in engaging with and acting upon their feedback.

Generative AI Can Help Grow Your Business

Generative AI Can Help Grow Your Business

Increasing Enrollment and Diversity in Special Education Preparation Through Grow Your Own Programs

Although the teacher education shortage is at an all-time high across the United States, particularly in the field of Special Education, an innovative, multitiered approach can help colleges and universities address this scarcity. Teacher preparation programs can bolster their recruitment, training, and delivery of high-quality special educators while also focusing on diversifying the special education teacher workforce. This paper will present a step-by-step approach to address the special education teacher shortage through a Grow Your Own Model. Using this approach as a blueprint for success, systems of higher education can help address the current special education teacher shortage crisis.

Collaborative Grow Your Own Partnerships to Address Persistent Teacher Shortages and Remove Barriers to Becoming a Special Educator

This article provides an overview of two innovative “Grow your Own” (GYO) pathways to teacher preparation. These pathways include authentic partnerships between an institute of higher education (IHE) and school districts, who actively plan and work together to recruit, prepare, and retain special educators. These pathways specifically focus on addressing teacher shortages, increasing the diversity of the educator workforce, and preparing educators through a social justice lens. The IHE and school district collaboration remove siloed practices to reach potential candidates who have a passion for teaching and social justice but who have previously lacked a pathway to enter the profession.

Farmers' and rural extension workers' perceptions on the adoption of the integrated pest management

As one important element of food culture, the common bean can be found in diverse countries and social classes. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) can help rationalize the use of insecticides to control insect pests in bean crops. This grain is an important element for food security and can be found in different countries and social classes. The present study aimed to examine rural extension professionals' and farmers' after participating in the “Plante seu Futuro” (“Grow your future”) program of the Government of the State of Paraná-Brazil in its component “Integrated Management of Pests and Diseases”, with the objective of identifying common points of view, positive and negative aspects that can be considered in the dissemination of the IPM. For that, semi-structured interview scripts were applied. The technical procedure used was the multi-case study, based on seven farmers and seven rural extension workers, employees of an official institution of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension, totaling about 20% of the program participants. The information was transcribed, organized, and subjected to content analysis. The intensity of discourses concerning the IPM before and after the experiment shows that even those farmers and rural extensionists who had a negative opinion about the IPM present favorable discourses and unanimity in the categorization of ends in the face of material success as justification for adopting the IPM after the experience. However, lack of information and/or knowledge about the practice was mentioned as a barrier, implying the need for technicians and farmers to be trained in order to spread IPM.

Grow your practice

Grow your practice

Deep in the Heart of Education: Addressing Texas Teacher Shortage with Grow Your Own Initiatives

This paper explores how Grow Your Own (GYO) educator initiatives can mitigate the pressing teacher shortage by unpacking the nature of the shortage and key factors of recruitment and retention. GYO proposes a solution by specifically targeting districts that often report the most frequent shortages: urban and rural schools. Our approach to recruitment expands the teacher pipeline and strives for retention by offering a strategy that capitalizes on asset-based community development and notions of heart work to assist in removing barriers that historically have kept Black, Latinx, Asian and other communities from pursuing teaching careers. Recommendations outline several current grant funding opportunities that can be utilized to establish a GYO, and encourage the exploration of partnerships with community-based organizations.

What Motivates High School Youths to Want to Teach? Narratives of Homegrown Aspiring Teachers

This qualitative study examined how a group of aspiring teachers who had completed a Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher program in high school explained their motivations for teaching. Findings revealed that homegrown aspiring teachers attributed their initial teaching aspirations to their own inequitable schooling experiences and societal perceptions of the teaching profession and explicitly described their decision to teach as a way to improve educational equity for socially and culturally marginalized students in their communities. Learning about teaching in the GYO program with caring and culturally responsive GYO teacher mentors embraced and affirmed their community-oriented, equity-focused teaching motivations.