One-Year Update on 2023-24 Catalyst Initiative Grant

The Catalyst Initiative Grant, now wrapping up its third year, provided $25,000 planning grants to 13 rural-serving organizations to address local teacher shortages. This funding, provided by a generous anonymous foundation, enabled rural-serving institutions to assess their context, convene partnerships, and construct a plan for developing a Rural Teacher Corps program. This early philanthropic support served as a vote of confidence to attract other funders and stakeholders to grow this work, and allowed for thoughtful planning to design and launch locally-responsive and sustainable programs.

The final cohort of this three-year project recently concluded their planning and initial implementation. The 2023-24 recipients were Bemidji State University, East Carolina University, Knox College, Ohio University, and the University of Maine. Leaders from these five schools have spent the last year working to develop plans for infusing rurality into their educator preparation programs, building capacity for strong, sustainable Rural Teacher Corps in the future.

Each new Rural Teacher Corps is a unique program designed to intentionally recruit, prepare, and retain rural educators, and learning from rural-serving peers in a cohort model has also been central to the design of these planning grants. RSC led cohort planning conversations around diversity in the rural teaching field, sustainable funding models, and connecting schools and their communities through asset-based frameworks and place-based education. These emerging programs also had opportunities to connect with existing programs to share lessons learned and best practices.

As the Catalyst Initiative Grant concludes, we are excited to share updates from each program.

Bemidji State University (Driftless Hub)

Led by Kathrina O’Connell, Bemidji State University (Bemidji, MN) started their Rural Teacher Corps with an intentional effort to empower aspiring teachers in the Anishinaabe American Indian communities, on whose ancestral home BSU is located. This led to the creation of the Amikwiish program, which supports rural teachers and teachers of color across northern Minnesota, including the Red Lake, Leech Lake, and White Earth Reservations. Amikwiish, which means ‘beaver lodge’ in Ojibwe, is meant to provide a nurturing and supportive environment for aspiring teachers, building upon the assets of their rurality and heritage, and lowering barriers to becoming a teacher.

Beginning this fall, 2024 semester, Bemidji State began offering an Introduction to Education for high school juniors and seniors in rural northern Minnesota. This novel course brings students to campus for the first and last days of the semester, while university faculty will teach the remaining sessions online and asynchronously. Grant funding covers transportation costs to and from campus, meals while the students on campus, and additional learning materials.

For Kathrina, the year-long nature of the planning grant was crucial to its success. “We really took the whole year to plan. Things don’t happen in a month or two– it really does take a long time to create a course such as this.” The extended planning window also helped Kathrina and her team gain support for the program: “People have been very receptive to this idea– they see the need. We are the only higher ed institution in northern Minnesota. . . it takes time to build relationships and for people to identify that what we are doing is with good intentions and benefits them and their communities. We want our teachers to go back into their communities and be leaders. But it really takes time.”

An important goal of the Catalyst Initiative Grant was to help attract additional funding, acting as an initial vote of confidence for these programs. Bemidji State University was able to bring in funding from the Collaborative Urban and Greater Minnesota Educators of Color Grant (CUGMEC) to provide additional support for Amikwiish, creating sustainability around the new program. Grants like the Catalyst Initiative that provide capacity building and planning time are crucial to helping combat the rural teacher shortage and for preparing teachers that reflect the demographics of their respective communities.

East Carolina University (Southeast Hub)

East Carolina University (ECU), an anchor institution of higher education in rural eastern North Carolina, utilized the grant to build upon their nascent Educator Pipeline in Rural Action for Teaching Equity (EdPIRATE) program. In 2022 East Carolina University received a federally-funded Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Grant to launch EdPIRATE, with a goal of partnering with local school districts to enrich rural teacher recruitment, development, and support. Centered at ECU’s Rural Education Institute (REI), the Catalyst Grant helped the ECU team further plan and grow EdPIRATE. East Carolina University anchors RSC’s Southeast Regional Hub.

EdPIRATE is a Masters in Teaching Residency program focused on the recruitment of diverse educators. With support from the TQP grant, the program enables field experiences and facilitates the students engaging in service in their communities. Students make a three-year commitment to teaching in a rural school, and receive a $41,000 living stipend while teaching four days a week over the course of the 13-month program.

The Catalyst Grant helped ECU extend support for REI cohorts in rural educational justice and resiliency pathways through teacher residency and service opportunities in teaching, counseling, and tutoring. Previously, funding was limited for tuition assistance, travel assistance, mentor teacher honorariums, site supervisor stipends, and administrative capacity.

Knox College (Illinois Hub)

Based out of Galesburg, IL, the faculty at Knox hoped to use the planning grant to lower the financial barriers for student teaching in more remote schools, offer stipends to local mentor teachers, and invite educators to attend rural-focused, inclusive professional development on campus. “What we're trying to figure out is how to help our students understand, respect, appreciate, and feel safe in our rural community schools and spaces” shared Mary Lyons, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies and Director of Teacher Education at Knox.

In speaking with her student teachers, Mary identified that transportation to and from rural school districts was a significant barrier to student teacher placements in the many rural districts around west-central Illinois. Several came from out of state, did not have cars, and chose instead to teach in town for the local district. By bringing in principals, teachers, and past graduates from rural schools, though, she discovered that interest was high for placements in schools up to an hour away from Knox’s campus.

This led to Knox utilizing part of the funds to purchase a car from students to check out and drive to student-teacher placements, often carpooling together as they headed to their practical classroom experiences. Purchasing the car and trusting these future teachers to go and return safely has opened doors to placements at rural schools, reducing an equity barrier that students without cars may face.

Additionally, Knox is focusing on building bridges between the education community in and around campus. In 2023 Knox piloted panels with teachers, administrators, and this semester is adding a recent alumni mentor network. When current student teachers have a fall break at their placement school, they will do a panel with next year’s student teachers to help preview what that experience is like. Moreover, Mary and her team are thinking intentionally about who might stay in the area to teach after graduation and are creating a near-peer mentor network.

“The whole throughline is the intentionality around the work. [We are] getting more strategic about what can work for [the Rural Teacher Corps’] sustainability, and getting our students to think about being rural educators and staying in rural spaces.”

Ohio University (Indiana & Great Lakes Hub)

Ohio University utilized the Catalyst Initiative Grant to strengthen and expand its Rural Teacher Fellowship program, which supports around 6 classroom teachers in Community and Career Connected Learning. This fellowship, which lasts three years, matches rural educators with experienced mentors and provides professional development in implementing innovative community and career-based teaching practices, all done in partnership with local non-profit Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C). With the Catalyst Grant, OHIO and BB2C are able to create a Junior Rural Teacher Fellowship, which created new opportunities for Ohio University teacher-candidates from Regional Higher Education to engage in similar learning and mentorship.

Supporting a diverse and robust rural teaching workforce is a priority for Ohio University, and empowering teachers to connect students with their communities to enhance learning was a natural fit for Jacqueline Yahn, Associate Professor of Education and Rural Teacher Fellowship Program Director and Emily Bentley, BB2C Education Engagement Specialist and Rural Teacher Fellowship Program Coordinator. Similarly, the partnership between their two organizations is paramount to a program focused on connecting learning and community, and the collaboration between Ohio University and BB2C has opened new doors for teachers and teacher candidates in Ohio’s Appalachian region.

As the program continues, Jacqueline, Emily, and their team are focused on leveraging the successes from the initial grant for more long-term sustainability, particularly around connecting students to the community and fostering local partnerships.

University of Maine (New England Hub)

As Maine is one of the most rural states in the country, intentionally including rurality into teacher education was a natural fit for the University of Maine and RSC’s New England Regional Hub lead Catharine Biddle. Distinguishing itself as a rural-serving institution is a priority at UMaine, and a core focus also exists on growing relationships with rural schools, communities, Passamaquoddy Tribal members, and non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting Maine’s students. Overall, UMaine utilized the grant to assess the intersection of Maine’s unique rurality and their program, curriculum, and partnerships.

Crucial to intentionally serving the needs of future rural teachers in Maine was better understanding the barriers they face during school and once in the classroom. One immediate barrier was the difficulty of transportation to and from rural schools during pre-service student teaching experiences. Not all students owned cars, those who did often drove cars not suitable for Maine’s wintery roads, and/or couldn’t afford the gas to and from their schools. The Catalyst Grant, therefore, helped offset those costs for students. As this is a planning grant, meant to provide space and capacity for understanding and exploring the current contexts for preparing rural educators, the University of Maine will continue to assess and identify opportunities to expand partnerships, foster connections, and support rural schools across Maine.

In 2023, shortly after receiving the Catalyst Grant, the University of Maine system received significant federal funding included in a federal budget package that further deepens UMaine’s commitment to supporting rural Education. Per UMaine communications, “the goal of the statewide project, which will include other University of Maine System (UMS) teacher preparation programs, is to improve resilience and retention of rural educators and school leaders, and PK-12 student outcomes.”