LCSC award $150,000 alternative teacher grant
News | Published on February 15, 2022 at 4:05pm GMT+0000 | Author: Chad Koenen
0Grant to build CTE licensure programs
Lakes Country Service Cooperative (LCSC) has been approved by the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing & Standards Board (PELSB) as the first alternative teacher preparation provider under Minnesota Statute 122A.2451.
In addition, LCSC was awarded a $150,000 Alternative Teacher Preparation Grant from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education to build career and technical education (CTE) licensure programs for incumbent teachers to obtain additional CTE licenses or endorsements.
“Clearly, there is a need for teachers to transition into more funding eligible licenses. LCSC saw that need and created a tangible and accessible solution through Alternative Teacher Preparation,” said Troy Haugen, LCSC Director of Career & College Readiness, “More and more educators are seeking alternative licensure. The program is growing to the point where LCSC is now in a position to hire program leaders to meet this need.”
LCSC strives to create an efficient, affordable, attainable, results-oriented, competency-based licensure program that is a clear pathway to obtain a license, yet nimble enough to provide individualized programs of study based on the identified needs of the licensure candidate. The intention is to offer these high-quality experiences on-demand to candidates without the traditional confines of the academic year.
Licensure programs include the Career and Technical Education Core program, Teacher Coordination of Work-Based Learning, Construction Careers, Transportation Careers, and Manufacturing Careers. Today there are 91 individuals enrolled in the CTE Licensure program.
Candidates are recruited, admitted through a defined process, appointed an advisor/mentor who will stay engaged with the candidate throughout the program, work with their advisor/mentor to determine their individualized licensure program needs, and obtain necessary content through micro-credential stacks and field experiences. Once the individualized program is complete, the candidate and advisor/mentor will go through a program completion review and licensure requirement review before finally obtaining a recommendation for licensure. Even at the point of licensure recommendation, the candidate is asked to continue providing information and data related to continuous program evaluation and improvement.
For more information about the Lakes Country Teacher Preparation program, please visit www.LCSC.org.