Standard 16: The unit must implement effective strategies to recruit, retain, and increase the percentage of candidates who:

(1) complete programs that address state and district teacher shortage areas;

In the fall of 2022 schools throughout the Twin Cities metro area, state and country are experiencing a significant teacher shortage in all licensure areas, and some actually cite this as a crisis. This reality supports UED’s implementation of intentional strategies for recruiting, retaining and increasing the percentage of candidates who complete each of our licensure programs. UED originated two decades ago, with its first graduating class of 7 students in 2003. With a focus on the mission of diversifying the teaching corps in the Twin Cities metro area, UED has grown and maintained an inclusive environment that draws upon the intersectionality of both our candidates and the needs in urban schools. In just two decades of existence, the School of Urban Education at Metro State has become the 13th largest teacher preparation provider in Minnesota (among 34 total) in terms of numbers of enrolled students and 16th largest in terms of number of completers, in both cases increasing our percentage of the total candidates enrolled and completing programs in the state comparing the most recent and oldest currently available reporting Title II reporting years (Title II, 2021, 2013) as shown in Table 16.1. The UED experienced an increase in enrollment by 106 percent between Title II Reporting Years 2013 and 2021, and an increase in the number of program completers by 50 percent over those same years.

Table 16.1 Metro State Ranking and Percentage Increases in Share of Total Enrolled Candidates and Completers in Minnesota

However, like most other teacher preparation providers in the state and country, we have been experiencing a downturn in overall enrollment over the past several years exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, low unemployment, challenging economic conditions, and the increasing awareness of increased challenges facing teachers despite implementing these strategies.

The UED works to recruit, retain and recommend for licensure highly qualified and skilled teachers, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse communities, to meet the needs of diverse PreK-12 classrooms in the metro area. The UED has approval by the PELSB to offer undergraduate and graduate licensure programs in: (i) Early Childhood Education; (ii) Elementary Education, with Pre-Primary Endorsement option; (iii) Secondary Education - Communication Arts & Literature, Life/General Sciences, Mathematics, and Social Studies, (iv) English as a Second Language, and (v) Special Education-Academic Behavioral Strategist. Table 16.2 shows undergraduate enrollment trends in these licensure areas over the past 10 years. Overall, the UED has been effective at recruiting, enrolling, graduating, and recommending for licensure teachers candidates in licensure shortage areas but improvement is always sought and in the summer of 2022 we hired our first Director of Recruitment, Retention and Induction with funding from a generous donor.

Table 16.2: UED Undergraduate Enrollment Trends per Licensure Area, FY13-FY22

Strategies to Recruit Candidates

The UED implements various strategies to recruit candidates into licensure shortage area programs, including:

• Hired new Director of Recruitment, Retention and Induction in July 2022 who has the responsibility to recruit new BIPOC candidates, including those interested in licensure shortage areas, in collaboration with community colleges, schools/districts, and community-based organizations as well as the University Admissions Office, Marketing Office, TRIO Program, and College of Sciences.
• Partnering on Grow Your Own grants with St. Paul Public Schools, Eden Prairie Public Schools and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District 191 for their learning community members to earn teaching licensure. Several years ago St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) urged Metro State UED to develop an undergraduate SPED degree and licensure program. Now that we have this program approved by PELSB, SPPS devoted a portion of their GYO FY22 grant to supporting their non-licensed SPED paraprofessionals (EA’s and TA’s) to earn their degrees and license through Metro State.  Metro UED was also honored to be chosen by Eden Prairie Public Schools to be their higher education partner for the extremely competitive GYO grant they received to support their non-licensed staff to earn licensure. The district Special Education Coordinator has been a participant in all planning and recruiting meetings for their Rising Educators program.  Metro UED was honored to be chosen by District 191 to be their higher education partner for the extremely competitive GYO grant they received for secondary students in their Education Career Pathway to receive scholarships to attend Metro State. The grant will support up to 50 scholarships to graduating seniors over the next four years.
• Holding Specific Special Education Licensure Program Information Sessions with targeted outreach to Special Education paraprofessionals in partner school districts St. Paul Public Schools, Rosemount-Eagan-Apple Valley District 196, Hopkins Public Schools, Intermediate District 917 and Osseo Area School District.
• Holding Specific Math Licensure Program Information Sessions with Math Faculty each semester with a target audience of Math majors at the Metro State, students who have completed Calculus II, and students in Math Associate of Arts programs at local community colleges.
• Recruiting candidates interested in ESL additional license from within the UED to add the minor and license to the Elementary or Secondary Education licensure or graduate-level license.
• Holding Several Urban Early Childhood Education Program Information Sessions with Minneapolis Public Schools non-licensed Early Childhood educators in partnership with the Coordinator of Early Childhood Education in the district who generated a list of 25 educators who have an interest.
• Partnering with the Early Childhood Education Coordinator in Hopkins Public Schools who reached out with personal contact to approximately a dozen non-licensed Early Childhood educators in the district encouraging them to get licensed through Metro State and making personal email introductions to UED dean and staff.
• Holding Virtual UED Programs Information Sessions on a monthly basis in collaboration with the University Admissions Office that are advertised on UED’s website. These sessions recruit graduate and undergraduate students for licensure shortage area and all other licensure programs. Names, contact information and licensure program of interest are collected when prospective students register, and Admissions staff does follow-up with those who attended and don’t attend.
• Implementing an innovative BOGO (Bring One Student, Get One Class for Free) Pilot Program for Metro State. UED Dean proposed the pilot to University Administration after being hired in January 2022 for the position and the proposal was approved with the pilot announced to UED students in late June 2022. This BOGO pilot builds upon the most effective strategy that has grown enrollment in UED over the years–word of mouth from our own students and alumni, and rewards those who get new students to enroll in UED programs.
• Raising Money to Support Teacher Candidates with Grants and Scholarships as one of the most common questions asked by new students is about the availability of scholarships. The UED and University Development Office have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from CUGMEC grants and generous donors to offer scholarships and grants to any candidates in licensure shortage areas of ECE, math and science, especially BIPOC candidates.
• Strengthening Partnership with Community Colleges to align license shortage area programs with MinnState Transfer Pathways and develop clear advising transfer guides for students where system pathways don’t exist.
• Increasing Concurrent Enrollment “Introduction to Urban Education'' Offerings in Local High Schools. After starting UED’s first concurrent enrollment College in the Schools partnership with El Colegio High School in Minneapolis several years ago, a partnership with South St. Paul High School has been implemented the past three years, with St. Louis Park High School for the past two years, and with District 191 Burnsville-Eagan-Savage starting in the fall of 2022.
• Collaborating with the University Marketing Department on updating web pages and print collateral with new University brand, clearer program information, online advertising and enhanced search engine optimization to make Metro State and the UED more well known and attractive with inviting calls to action for applying.

Strategies to Retain Candidates

Key student support practices implemented by the UED to retain candidates seeking a license in a shortage area, especially BIPOC candidates, include:

• Hired new Director of Recruitment, Retention and Induction in July 2022 who has the responsibility to develop and direct unit activities in collaboration with other University offices to ensure that teacher candidates, focused on those who are BIPOC including those who are pursuing licensure shortage areas, are retained.
• Providing Early and Continuous Intrusive Advising:  Candidates are assigned to professional academic advisors, attend preview days and admission orientations upon admission to the university and until they earn admission to the School of Urban Education. After gaining admission to the UED, candidates are assigned to faculty advisors and are required to meet with their advisors to complete Progress Checks #1 & #2. The UED Academic Advisor receives and distributes academic standing automated reports, and advisors receive early alert system reports from instructors. In early 2022, UED faculty and staff agreed to implement a R.A.I.S.E. initiative (i.e. committing to provide Responsive, Accurate, Informative, Supportive, and Equitable service to candidates and partners.)
• Teaching Culturally Responsive Curriculum: Starting with pre-professional coursework in Introduction to Urban Education and Reflective Teaching (EDU 200), Multicultural Education (EDU 203) before being admitted and implemented throughout candidates’ required coursework, UED’s culturally responsive curriculum resonates with candidates and its relevance keeps them engaged throughout their studies.
• Providing Financial support: State CUGMEC grant funding, university and foundation scholarships, OHE grants for student teachers all provide important financial support to teacher candidates so they can remain enrolled, work less and accumulate less debt.
• Doing Continual Data Analysis: The UED continuously looks at program data from admission to completion with a racial/ethnic lens to ensure we are helping to address licensure shortage areas, diversify the workforce, and close opportunity gaps in the Twin Cities metro area.
• Providing Additional Academic support: The UED faculty has an established “Success Engagement Team” (SET) initiative encompassing a variety of early interventions (e.g., writing, assessment, academic coaching, etc.) designed to create opportunities and programming in collaboration with various University student service units that support candidates.

Effectiveness of Recruitment and Retention Strategies to Increase Completion Percentages of Shortage Area Programs

The UED primarily evaluates the effectiveness of its recruitment strategies by the number of prospective students who become teacher candidates in these licensure shortage areas, especially those  who are of color or American Indian.  Because these are shortage areas, we are being successful and effective with each new student who gains admission and enrolls. However, we are not satisfied unless we have annual enrollment increases in each program that will contribute more significantly to addressing the shortage of Tier 3 licensed teachers. Because there are many factors out of the control of the UED that go into a person deciding to seek admission and enroll in coursework to earn a degree and teaching license, we also evaluate the effectiveness of our recruitment efforts by the positive relationships we form with partners that “plant the seeds” for deeper collaboration and more students in the future. Over the past two decades, the UED has grown largely by relationships with partners and word of mouth about the quality of urban teaching programs we offer. Today, in its 21^st year of existence, the UED is now the 13^th largest overall teacher preparation institution in the state (see Exhibit 16.1.1) and we finally have the staffing infrastructure to be even more intentional with recruitment and retention initiatives with our new Director position.