Just when you thought I was snowed in, I dug myself out for some late-breaking education news! The Professional Educators Standards Board (PESB) has released their report to the legislature with recommendations for how Washington should recruit a quality supply of math and science teachers.

So just what is PESB recommending to increase math and science teacher capacity? Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I was on the task force behind the report, so I’ve got a pretty good idea. Here are the highlights:

• Create an Adjunct Teaching Corps of part-time math and science faculty at community colleges and baccalaureate institutions with interest in teaching secondary math and/or science part-time in Washington public middle- or high schools. I love this recommendation. It’s relatively low-cost and brings a significant amount of new and diverse experience into the classroom.

• Ensure Math and Science Teacher Preparation Adequately Prioritized by Public Institutions. We recommend that Governor Gregoire convene, per PESB budget request to OFM, a Task Force of Public Higher Education Institution Leadership, along with other key K-12 stakeholders, to examine the place of educator preparation in public institutional mission and how institutional leaders may better prioritize and support it. This is a no-nonsense solution that should have been done yesterday. Currently, most Washington Colleges of Education over-produce elementary school teachers, while significantly under-producing math and science teachers—an area where there is dire need. This task force would look for ways to encourage Colleges of Education to counsel students and produce teachers that meet the demands of the state.

• Fund Teacher Residency and Fellowship programs, with oversight by the PESB, operated by Teach for America (TFA) or The New Teacher Project, in which teaching interns earn significant stipends or salary. Washington is one of the most sought after locations in the TFA Corps, yet, to date, our state has never sought assistance from the program. While this strategy is more long term, it has proved to draw some of the best and brightest young minds in to the classroom.
  

• Create tighter, more formal collaboration between colleges of education and liberal arts and sciences. Modeled after the nationally-renowned U-Teach program at University of Texas and a similar program at University of Colorado, Washington institutions should implement Compact degrees that allow most students to graduate with a degree and certification in math or science in four years. Imagine if you could earn an engineering degree and a math teaching certificate at the same time. I bet there’d be a lot more math and science graduates willing to teach out there.

Promisingly, Governor Gregoire has already included pieces of this report (namely, creating tighter links between Colleges of Education and K-12 teaching demands) in her budget proposal for this session. Stay tuned (and stay warm) for more news of the implementation of PESB’s recommendations over the coming session!