Special Education Teacher Recruitment Boosted By ACPS, GW Partnership

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria City Public Schools has announced a new partnership to help bring more special education teachers and instructional assistants into the classroom.

The partnership with the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development will allow graduate students to apply to the GW master’s program and employment with ACPS at the same time. In their first year of the graduate program, students will work as ACPS instructional assistants as a way to gain professional learning from ACPS and GW staff. Students will have the chance to advance to special education teacher roles during their second year of the program.

The program will begin accepting applicants with a goal of having the first student group in place by summer 2023. ACPS will provide $800 in annual funding to each student to help with tuition.

"As we work to serve all students, it is critical that we explore new pathways to identify highly qualified special education teachers," said ACPS Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt in a statement. "As a former special education teacher myself, I know that a program like this will help graduate students get the rigorous training and practical experience they need to shine in our classrooms."

The program not only seeks to help GW graduate students find ACPS career opportunities. The school division wants its current staff who are interested in special education to learn about the graduate program. ACPS staff who are currently serving as instructional assistants, substitute teachers and other positions will be offered webinars and materials to learn about the graduate program, which can provide a higher-paying teaching position.

"Our collaborative teacher preparation partnership creates pathways for paraprofessionals to become teachers, connects GW pre-service teachers to opportunities in a highly regarded local school district, and provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art teacher preparation experience which effectively leverages the strengths and resources of both partners to create a robust and sustainable teacher pipeline," said Beth Tuckwiller, an associate professor and GW’s Special Education & Disability Studies Department chair.

ACPS has not evaded recruitment and retention challenges in school districts around the U.S. An October 2022 presentation to the Alexandria City School Board noted there have been fewer applicants, especially in hard-to-fill positions, and low attendance at job fairs. As of the October presentation, there were 48 instructional vacancies at ACPS.

However, ACPS has processed more hires by the start of the 2022-2023 school year than during the entire 2021-2022 school year.

ACPS plans to start recruitment earlier for the 2023-2024 school year with a focus on teachers in the region, new graduates, student teachers, interns and other potential applicants. Along with the new partnership with GW, ACPS has a partnership program with historically Black colleges and universities, Latinx organizations and other organizations to recruit diverse applicants.

For the new GW partnership program, ACPS will host an informational event in early February for ACPS staff and GW students. A specialized position listing and application will become available in February. ACPS and GW will review applications and share program enrollment decisions by early March, and job offer letters will be issued by June. Additional networking and interview events for participants will be held throughout the spring.