Grow Your Own

Design Your Program

Learn more about the core components of a GYO program and explore examples.

When designing a GYO program, be sure to consider how you will address each of these areas:

Partners

Organizations and funding streams that can help you achieve your program goals.

Strong partnerships increase the likelihood that you will achieve your GYO program goals. As you develop your program, partners can offer unique insights and ideas to help you design program components to better meet needs of participants. In addition, partners can assist with implementation. There are several ways that partners can help—from recruiting participants to providing support through funding, scholarships, and other services. Potential partners include:

• State scholarship program for GYO

• Community-based organizations

• Community colleges

• Educator preparation programs

• Minority serving institutions

• Private foundations

• Unions

• Other school districts

While partners can help defray the costs of managing a GYO program, schools and districts should examine how a combination of local, state, and/or federal funding can be used to sustain the program. At a federal level, Title II, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) designates funding for recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers.

Recruitment

Targeted strategies to encourage participation in your GYO program. 

Recruitment focuses on attracting individuals who want to teach in the local community in which they live. When starting a new program, it is especially important to create a comprehensive communications plan for recruitment to build awareness among desired participants. Tailor your outreach strategies to the specific groups you are trying to recruit (i.e. students, current employees, or community members).  

The following strategies can help improve your recruiting efforts:  

• Leverage existing partnerships and engage staff to help with recruiting. Identify the individuals and/or organizations who have the best relationship with people you want to recruit to your program. Enlist them to help you share information about the program and craft messages that resonate with people you’d like to recruit. For example, teachers, club advisors, and coaches connect with students on a daily basis and may be your greatest advocates for the teaching profession. Alternatively, community organizations may be the best avenue to reach individuals who aren’t currently affiliated with your school or district. 

• Enhance the image of the profession. One of the barriers to recruitment may be a lack of interest in the profession. Work to dispel any misconceptions about the teaching profession and shine a light on the positive aspects of being an educator.  

• Elicit a sense of community pride. Appeal to participants’ desire to give back and work with youth in their home community.

Selection

Criteria for accepting participants into your GYO program.   

Begin by clearly defining the requirements that candidates must meet to be considered for the program. Fewer requirements encourage broader participation while adding requirements creates a more selective program. These requirements should guide what you request as part of the application process (e.g. essay, references or letters of recommendation, minimum GPA, etc.). 

• At a minimum, programs geared towards middle or high school students specify a grade level or age for participation.  

• Specifying requirements for GYO Programs for adults helps clarify who is eligible to participate. For example, consider the following:  

• Can anyone in your community apply or is it open to current employees only?  

• Do you require a minimum level of educational attainment (e.g. associate degree, bachelor’s degree)?  

• Can individuals who currently hold a teaching license apply? 

Preparation & Support

Help participants meet requirements and graduate prepared. 

The goal of a GYO program is to prepare participants for a career in education. While this involves defining the knowledge and skills you want participants to acquire, it is equally important to identify how you will support participants as they work through the program.   

• Early exposure. Provide opportunities for participants to experience different aspects of the teaching profession.  

• For students, this could involve hand-on experiences such working as a junior teaching assistant, tutoring, or completing a summer internship in your school or district. It could also involve activities to build awareness of the profession such as education-themed career fairs. 

• GYO programs that incorporate a teacher residency model give participants an opportunity to work alongside a mentor teacher while they complete their college coursework. Substitute teaching and student-teaching also provide valuable opportunities for adults to gain classroom experience.  

• Academic supports. Develop the curriculum and assist participants with navigating program requirements.  

• Curriculum design and delivery: Teacher preparation programs traditionally emphasize clinical experience and teaching and classroom management practices that increase student achievement. More recently, there have been calls to develop more meaningful connections between teaching candidates and the communities and students they will serve by focusing on issues of social justice, equity, and cultural competency (Valenzuela, 2017). This involves equipping participants with the technical skills of teaching along with preparing them for the context in which they will be teaching.    

• Academic tutoring/test preparation: Help participants complete coursework and pass licensure exams by offering study sessions, test prep classes, and other forms of assistance.  

• Social supports. Navigating the college environment and licensure requirements, especially for first-generation college students, can be challenging. Furthermore, minority candidates may experience a greater sense of isolation. Cohort models, study groups, mentors, and other social activities can help candidates feel like they are part of a community.  

• Financial supports. Financial aid can take many forms such as: 

• Scholarships for students who plan to enroll in or are accepted into a teacher preparation program. 

• Forgivable loans for participants who successfully complete program requirements and return to teach in your school or district.  

• Dual credit opportunities for high school students can help decrease the cost and time to complete an educator preparation program.  

In addition, schools and districts can work with participants to help them navigate other financial aid resources. A few examples are provided here.

Placement

Assist participants with next steps or securing a job.

Organize campus visits to colleges of education for high school students and help them enroll in an approved educator preparation program.  Many GYO programs offer guaranteed placement in a hard-to-staff position or high-needs building upon obtaining licensure. Be sure to consider how you will match candidates with open positions and support them during their first years in the job.  Visit the Onboarding page for more ideas on how to support new employees.