Some 25 future educators willing to commit to working in selected Waco schools for five years will earn their teaching certificates and master’s degrees free of charge starting this summer through a program created by Transformation Waco.
The Transformation Waco board of trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved bid awards to Tarleton State University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership to partner with Transformation Waco, the five-school charter system in the Waco Independent School District authorized under Senate Bill 1882. The Waco ISD board is expected to approve the agreements Thursday.
Tarleton State University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership will provide services for the combined master’s degree and alternative certification program, which is a nontraditional path to earn a teaching certificate that allows college graduates to teach while completing the certification requirements.
Applications for the Transformational Urban Educator Alternative Certification Program are open. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree by June 6, a minimum GPA of 3.0 and have taken or scheduled the pre-admission content test through the Texas Education Agency. They also must be U.S. citizens.
Qualified candidates will receive an invitation to interview by April 5, according to the program’s website, TransformationWaco.org.
The program will cost Transformation Waco about $600,000, money that will be split between Tarleton and the leadership academy, according to the board’s agenda packet. State grants awarded to Trans- formation Waco will cover the costs.
The school district intends for the alternative certification program to combat high teacher turnover in the five schools, Transformation Waco CEO Robin McDurham said.
For the past three years, Waco ISD as a whole averaged a 24 percent teacher turnover rate, losing more than 200 teachers a year, compared to the statewide average of 16 percent. The district hired 204 new teachers for this school year, including 87 who were completing an alternative certification program.
Teacher turnover is even higher among Transformation Waco schools, with three campuses having to hire between 37 and 46 percent of their teaching staffs each year. On average, Waco ISD middle schools also hire more than 30 percent of their teaching staff annually.
The five Transformation Waco schools are Indian Spring Middle School, G.W. Carver Middle School, Alta Vista Elementary School, Brook Avenue Elementary School and J.H. Hines Elementary School.