Understanding the Scalability of Grow Your Own Teacher Pathways: Lessons from Michigan

• In Event: Sustaining the Teacher Labor Force

Abstract

In response to persistent teacher shortages, many states have established “grow your own” (GYO) programs that aim to recruit future teachers from within their local communities. These programs are designed to increase the supply of credentialed teachers, especially in high-need grade/subject areas, and reduce attrition by recruiting individuals with existing ties to the community who are more likely to continue teaching in the local area long-term (Edwards & Kraft, 2024). While the adoption of GYO has grown rapidly in recent years, with GYO programs now found in more than 40 states (Edwards & Kraft, 2024), empirical research on their implementation and scalability remains limited.

Michigan has made among the nation’s largest state-level investments in GYO programming, allocating approximately $300 million in recent fiscal years to support new teacher recruitment and retention (Moriarty et al., 2025). Two features distinguish Michigan’s approach. First, the bulk of this funding is for programs that focus on recruiting adults rather than youth, especially non-certificated school staff like paraprofessionals, substitutes, and support staff. Second, Michigan’s programs provide ways for certified teachers to earn additional endorsements. Together, these design elements reflect an implicit theory of action: that financial barriers prevent both aspiring teachers and current teachers from pursuing additional credentials, and that these groups represent an untapped well of potential talent to address the state’s teacher shortages (Kilbride et al., 2025).

In this early-stage study, we analyze ten years of state administrative data (2013–14 through 2024–25) to assess these assumptions and consider the potential scalability of GYO efforts. Our dataset includes teacher certification and endorsement records, staffing assignments, and employment locations across all public schools in the state. We focus on two key outcomes: (1) movement of non-certificated staff into teaching roles and (2) in-service teachers earning additional endorsements, expanding on the range of courses and student groups they are qualified to teach.

Our findings suggest that both in-service teachers and non-certificated staff may serve as modest but meaningful sources of new teaching capacity. Between 2013–14 and 2024–25, roughly 900 to 1,800 teachers annually added new endorsements, most commonly in special education, ESL, and elementary education. For every four new teachers entering the profession, one current teacher adds an endorsement, suggesting that current teachers may be a receptive target population for increasing the number of credentialed teachers in shortage areas. Meanwhile, each year between roughly 2,000 and 3,500 non-teaching staff transition into new roles, with roughly 25% becoming substitutes and another 20% becoming regular classroom teachers. However, only about 2-3% of non-teaching staff switch roles annually, raising questions about how broadly interest in teaching extends within this population.

These early results illuminate the potential reach of GYO programs in Michigan and have implications for the scalability of GYO efforts in Michigan and elsewhere. As participant-level data become available from GYO programs, we will expand our analyses to examine outcomes more directly tied to Michigan’s GYO investments.

Author

• Jason Burns, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author