A National Look at Grow Your Own Programs and Policies

• In Event: Growing Your Own Teachers: Building Community-Focused Teacher Pipelines

Abstract

Grow Your Own began as a grassroots strategy for preparing community-based teachers oriented to the needs and experiences of students (Skinner et al., 2011) but has risen to the attention of federal policymakers (Author, 2021). Given the expanding interest in GYO, this study provides a 50-state scan to identify programs and investigate state policies that support program development, implementation, and sustainability. This study was grounded in the perspective that GYO is a highly localized strategy that lacks a common definition and unifying framework to drive program goals and design. State policy can play a role in creating shared goals, program design parameters, and targeting resources to meet specific teacher workforce needs.
We relied on multiple data sources to determine the prevalence of GYO programs and relevant legislation across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These sources included program websites, state education agency websites, complementary 50-state comparisons on teacher recruitment and retention policies (Evans et al., 2019) and career and technical education policies (Pechota et al., 2020), state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act, an analysis of state teacher equity plans (Williams et al., n.d.), and state legislation databases. We identified GYO program websites using a Google search using the following search term: “[state name] grow your own teachers.” Lastly, we used recent surveys of state Title II and Title III program directors about efforts to recruit and prepare educators through GYO, conducted in 2018 and 2020. We used the survey findings to supplement and validate the information found in our independent review of GYO policies and programs.
Our scan shows that the landscape of GYO educator pathways is highly localized with wide variability in program design. GYO is widespread, with 49 states plus the District of Columbia having at least one program for high school students, paraeducators, or some combination. Many programs initiated at the district level lack a formal policy infrastructure to guide program design, implementation, and funding. Only 29 states plus DC have a GYO-focused policy and a slightly higher number of states, 31 plus DC, currently fund GYO initiatives. Federal recovery funds were used to offer one-time funding opportunities for GYO, but this temporary funding creates uncertainty for GYO programs and candidates.
Scant research has been conducted that examines GYO programs and policies within each state. This analysis adds to the literature base by documenting the breadth of GYO strategies across the nation and highlighting existing policies and funding streams to support these efforts.

Author

• Amaya Garcia, New America
  Presenting Author