(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Transition to Teaching (TTT) program, an initiative supported by the Kentucky Department of Education, school districts and state universities, has been rated an “Effective” federal program by the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C.
TTT is only the sixth federal education program and the first discretionary program that funds educational services to receive the rating, which is the highest a program can achieve.
The TTT program is designed to recruit and retain highly qualified individuals to meet the needs of high-need, high-poverty Kentucky school districts in specific subject areas. The program is targeted toward mid-career professionals or recent college graduates who have not completed a teacher preparation program. Participants must indicate a desire to teach in a high-need subject: math, science, language arts, social studies/government, arts and humanities, special education, English as a Second Language (ESL) or world languages. To date, 273 individuals have participated in the TTT program in Kentucky.
TTT participants receive a $5,000 stipend over two years, one-on-one coaching, professional development and teacher certification upon the satisfactory completion of all requirements:
· completion of the online Transition to Teaching application
· acceptance into the alternative certification/MAT or MASE program with a partner university
· employment with a partner school
· a three-year commitment to teach in the school district
· completion of coursework
· completion of the Kentucky Internship Program (KTIP)
· successful completion of the specialty test (PRAXIS II)
Four Kentucky state universities -- Eastern Kentucky University, Morehead State University, Murray State University and Northern Kentucky University -- and one private university -- Campbellsville -- participate in the program. Campbellsville University works directly with 35 school districts and focuses on teachers of students with learning behavior disorders (LBD). Other school districts (some of which also are involved in the Campbellsville project) participate in the program through the other four universities.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS PARTICIPATING IN THE TRANSITION TO TEACHING PROGRAM
Adair Co.
Allen Co.
Ashland Ind.
Berea Ind.
Breathitt Co.
Campbellsville Ind.
Casey Co.
Caverna Ind.
Covington Ind.
Edmonson Co.
Frankfort Ind.
Fulton Co.
Fulton Ind.
Glasgow Ind.
Green Co.
Hart Co.
Hickman Co.
Hopkins Co.
Jackson Co.
Jefferson Co.
Jenkins Ind.
Knox Co.
Lee Co.
Letcher Co.
Lewis Co.
Lincoln Co.
Menifee Co.
Metcalfe Co.
Monticello Ind.
Morgan Co.
Newport Ind.
Owensboro Ind.
Paintsville Ind.
Paris Ind.
Powell Co.
Pulaski Co.
Robertson Co.
Russell Co.
Russellville Ind.
Somerset Ind.
Williamsburg Ind.
A map of participating school districts is available here.
In awarding the rating, the Office of Management and Budget considered three main criteria:
- The program addresses a compelling need. It targets high-poverty schools and districts that have difficulty recruiting highly qualified teachers, although some statutory and administrative obstacles prevent the program from supporting more innovative alternative certification programs.
- The program has demonstrated improvements in performance achieving annual and long-term goals. The program has three performance measures and two efficiency measures, and each cohort of grantees has shown, to a large extent, improvements each year in each measure.
- Data are available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner. Aggregate and grantee-level performance and efficiency data are posted on the KDE Transition to Teaching program Web site.
Details on the rating are available here. More information about the Transition to Teaching program is available here.
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