Conclusion

For many non-traditional candidates, the path into teaching is riddled with bumps and detours. They must pay for increasingly expensive coursework and certification costs, attend classes that conflict with work schedules, and forgo wages to complete unfunded student teaching requirements. These roadblocks can deter valuable local talent—paraeducators, afterschool staff, substitutes, parents, and students—from becoming teachers. The good news is that a number of states are using competitive grants to expand and strengthen GYO programs, which offer more hospitable pathways into the profession for candidates who share the same communities and demographic backgrounds as their students.

The need for such pathways has never been more urgent. School closures prompted by the coronavirus pandemic have stymied student learning, heightening the need for intensive and individualized academic and socioemotional supports. GYO programs are one avenue for preparing the teachers we will need to address these amplified needs. As our colleague Ivy Love recently pointed out, World War II meant nurse shortages, which were met with creative federal initiatives to expedite training so that more healthcare workers were available to meet the heightened need for care.¹ The preparation of teachers during our own critical time should receive the same enthusiastic response.