Indiana Teachers of Tomorrow has been approved by a unanimous vote of the Indiana State Board of Education today which allows the program to immediately start recruiting and training new teachers to help resolve the critical Indiana teacher shortage. The vote was the final step in the approval process as the program first went through an exhaustive review by a panel of Indiana educator preparation experts and the Indiana Department of Education.
In a 2016 report from the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), Indiana ranked among the lowest in the country for teacher recruitment and retention. Nationally, it was estimated that nearly 60,000 teaching positions went unfilled for the 2015-16 school year, with data point towards an upwards trend for around 112,000 openings by 2018.
“Indiana has been severely affected by teacher shortages for the past few years and we are excited to be able to help school districts quickly address those shortages,” said Vernon Reaser, CEO of Teachers of Tomorrow. “We are honored to have been approved through a very thorough vetting process which speaks to the quality of the program and the teachers we bring to the classroom.”
Indiana Teachers of Tomorrow, along with its sister state entities in Texas, Nevada, Florida and South Carolina allow candidates with a bachelor’s degree in any field, a minimum 2.5 GPA, and US citizenship to apply, at no cost, and interview with a Program Advisor for admission into the program. What makes Indiana Teachers of Tomorrow stand out is their dedication to support for these new teachers through their first year of teaching and training. Relationships developed with school districts allow effective communication for positions that need to be filled so that they can match potential teachers in the program who meet those requirements, all at no cost to the state or school districts.
In order to quickly start addressing the shortage, Indiana Teachers of Tomorrow will waive the $295 initial program fee so that potential teachers can get started today at no cost. They have launched a new website, INTeachers.org, today to serve potential career changers who want to teach in Indiana, and their team of Program Advisors have been trained to help teacher candidates through the process of becoming a teacher, from start to finish.
Teachers of Tomorrow is the largest, fastest growing Teacher Certification Program in the nation, delivering online and in-person training to individuals pursuing a career in teaching. Teachers of Tomorrow is also the #2 most diverse certification program in the country with 46% non-white enrollment; and 68% of their teachers remain in the profession after five years, versus the national average of only 50%. Over the last 11 years, Teachers of Tomorrow has certified more than 42,000 new teachers, and in 2016 the Company trained and certified an estimated 7,000 teachers. Teachers of Tomorrow is an approved teacher certification provider in Texas, Florida, Nevada, South Carolina and Indiana.
