Nontraditional teachers lining up

An effort to inject new blood into the teaching ranks of the St. Paul Public Schools -- especially for jobs that have been hard to fill -- is gaining serious steam.

Since launching in late 2007, the St. Paul Teaching Fellows project has garnered 430 applicants and resulted in interviews of 39 prospective new teachers, said Norah Barrett, St. Paul site manager for the project. The application deadline is March 10. Barrett said the goal is to hire 30 to 50 new St. Paul teachers to begin work next fall. In all, St. Paul Teaching Fellows expects to place 250 new teachers in the district over the next five years.

The project has focused on lassoing folks who have little or no teaching experience but are driven by the passion to help urban kids succeed, Barrett said.

"Oh my gosh, it's been really exciting," said Barrett of the applicants. "We've seen people from all walks of life but who have always wanted to be teachers coming to us."

So far, applicants have included paraprofessionals, such as clerks and aides, as well as mid-career professionals, professors and even a meteorologist, Barrett said. An interesting group, considering that if they are accepted, they will start work at a beginning teacher's salary -- less than $40,000 a year.

"That's what's so inspiring," Barrett said. "Many of these people are so passionate about teaching that they are willing to take what amounts to a substantial pay cut."

This project is a partnership between the St. Paul schools and the New Teacher Project, a national effort to boost the staffs of urban schools with top-notch, albeit often nontraditional, teachers. Funded with a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and another $375,000 from the St. Paul Public Schools, the project's aim is to fill hard-to-place special education, math and science, and English language learner teaching jobs with recent college graduates and current professionals.

It is a fast-track program. After applying at www.saintpaulteachingfellows.org, the most desirable candidates are called in for interviews by teams of selectors, often current St. Paul teachers. Those candidates who survive the daylong interviews are required to pass several content-area examinations to become eligible for a teaching license.

From there, surviving candidates are fully enrolled in the program. They will help teach summer school in the St. Paul schools in the mornings and attend their own classes and intensive training in the afternoons. The six-week institute will keep prospective teachers busy from about 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

"It's a busy day," Barrett said. "Very much like it is to be a teacher."

Those who make it through will be placed in the school district for the start of classes in the fall.

But their work still is not done.

While they teach during the day, St. Paul Teaching Fellows will be expected to attend the necessary college classes to earn their state teaching license in their subject or speciality. That part will take about two years. Commitment, indeed.

And, all the while, the program will continue to collect applications, hold interviews and keep the process rolling for the next batch of prospective teachers.

The first interviews of the first batch of applicants were held Feb. 2. More interviews are scheduled for Wednesday and March 1.

Who they want

"We want leaders who are not only role models in our diverse community, but who are focused on ensuring high academic achievement," reads a statement on the project website.

St. Paul schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and the St. Paul school board have launched an ambitious strategic plan that aims to not only boost graduation rates and college enrollment across the district, but seeks to close an achievement gap between white students and black, Hispanic and American Indian students.

"We want people with little or no teaching experience but who are driven to succeed," reads another statement.

St. Paul schools officials point out that the project is doing more than just trolling the online waters for teaching candidates. Recent information meetings were held with 74 students from the University of Minnesota and another 51 students at Augsburg College. In addition, project officials are talking to Medtronic, which is considering advertising about the program to employees who are interested in early retirement.

In addition, the school district earlier this week held a St. Paul Teacher Career Fair at Arlington High School. And on April 14, the St. Paul schools will participate in the Minnesota Education Job Fair at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

A major goal in all of this is to improve the overall diversity of the teaching ranks, said Teresa Rogers, executive director of human relations for the St. Paul schools.

While more than 70 percent of St. Paul's students come from racial or ethnic minority groups, about 85 percent of St. Paul's teachers are white. That number is beginning to change. And officials are optimistic that St. Paul Teaching Fellows will make an impact, Rogers said.

In all, Barrett said, there is a great diversity of professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds in the people lining up to teach in St. Paul. Yet most applicants are either Minnesota residents or Minnesota natives who want to come back to teach.

"And that is what is so exciting to us," she said.

James Walsh • 651-298-1541