April 9, 2025 at 3pm EST

Join the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO) and the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) for an insightful discussion on how teacher registered apprenticeships can be aligned with quality assurance and continuous improvement. This webinar will explore strategies for strengthening educator preparation through structured apprenticeship models, ensuring program effectiveness and sustainability.

April 28, 2025 at 2pm EST

Join us for a special webinar featuring Missy Testerman, the 2024 National Teacher of the Year, as she shares her inspiring Grow Your Own journey—from earning her ESL endorsement after 25+ years in the classroom, to becoming a national voice for educators.

The National Center for Grow Your Own’s mission is to create a world where you can become a teacher for free and get paid to do so. In our work with state education agencies and school districts across the country, one of the biggest obstacles our partners face is having enough educator preparation providers who are high-quality and low cost. In an effort to help this work scale, we wanted to highlight educator preparation providers that are doing incredibly innovative work at an affordable cost to show what's possible. We will then have a second panel that will provide a national perspective of what their stakeholders are looking for from their EPP partners.

Panelists include: Prentice Chandler of Austin Peay State University; Sara DeLano of Dallas College; Jerri Haynes of Jackson State University; Kimberly Eckert of Reach University; Kathlene Campbell of the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR); Tina Smith Bonahue of University of Florida; Valerie Sakimura of Deans for Impact; Allen Pratt of National Rural Education Association (NREA); Todd Berch of the Connecticut Department of Labor; Rosalyn Rice-Harris of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

Please attend this session if you are interested in learning the origin as well as nuts and bolts of a registered apprenticeship program for K-12 teachers. Registered apprenticeships are less than two years old for the teaching occupation and yet are already in 23 states as of September 2023. Come and learn from the lead author of the US Department of Labor application that established teacher apprenticeships (as well as principal apprenticeships) and founder of the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO), David Donaldson. Attendees will also receive an update on the National Convening of Registered Apprenticeships in Teaching taking place January 25th & 26th, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas from Jimmy Adams of NASDTEC.

WomenLeadingEd in partnership with the National Center for Grow Your Own are co-hosting this webinar to discuss the benefits and needs of our nation to increase the amount of women serving as superintendents and potential pathways to consider that leverage "Grow Your Own" and registered apprenticeship models. We will be joined by Superintendent Lisa Coons of the Virginia Department of Education, Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell of Oakland Unified School District in California, Dr. Julia Rafal Baer CEO and Founder of ILO Group and WomenLeadingEd as panelists and moderated by David Donaldson of the National Center for Grow Your Own. Panelists will discuss the state of the superintendency, their leadership journeys and a path forward to increase the percentage of women serving as superintendents at both the district and state level in our country.

The U.S. Department of Labor's July 10, 2023 approval of the principal occupation as eligible for registered apprenticeship came at the request of education leaders in North Dakota, National Center for Grow Your Own, Council of Chief State School Officers, NAESP, NASSP and multiple North Dakota stakeholders. This new designation, similar to the registered apprenticeships for teachers, allows for labor funding to be used to cover costs for your principal pipeline (i.e. tuition, books, fees, etc of earning a master's degree in school leadership). This webinar will feature state leadership from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction as the first state in the nation to create a registered apprenticeship for K-12 principals. During this session, attendees will learn the who, what, when, where and why of registered apprenticeships for principals.

For states, districts, and educator preparation providers looking to launch registered apprenticeship programs for aspiring K-12 teachers, come and learn from state apprenticeship agency directors. These leaders will share how they have led registered apprenticeships in their states, how they are approaching the teacher registered apprenticeships, and the benefits of this work for employers and future apprentices. As the National Center for Grow Your Own works with almost 30 states, it is important to understand how to approach and engage your state's labor representatives to ensure a successful program registration, launch and implementation. Come and learn from state apprenticeship leaders from across the country, including Josh Laney of Alabama, David Polk of Wisconsin, and Kathleen Taylor of Florida.

The National Registered Apprenticeship in Teaching District Network launched in early 2023 as a direct result of the growth of the state network created by the National Center for Grow Your Own to expand the use of registered apprenticeships to address teacher shortages and grow the educator workforce. The network's strength is in the backgrounds of participants from suburban, urban and rural districts ranging in size from under 5,000 students to the largest district in the nation with NYC Public Schools. Come and learn from district network participants (Saginaw ISD in Michigan, Ector County ISD in Texas and Appoquinimink School District in Delaware) about how they are approaching registered apprenticeships in teaching in their districts, their engagement with the network, and what their future plans are for this work. Thanks to AASA and AESA for co-hosting this event.

The United States Department of Labor recently announced the "National Apprenticeship System Enhancements," a series of proposed changes to the regulations governing registered apprenticeship. These proposed changes are currently in the status of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), with public comments accepted until March 18, 2024.

These guidelines will impact all registered apprenticeships programs, including K-12 Teacher and K-12 Principal Programs. Please join David Donaldson (Founder of the National Center for Grow Your Own), Todd Berch (State Apprenticeship Director of Connecticut), and Josh Laney (State Apprenticeship Director of Alabama), on March 6, 2024, at 12pm EST, to learn what these proposals would mean for educator registered apprenticeships and how to provide your feedback to the USDOL.

This webinar will be co-hosted by the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO) and the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors (NASTAD).

Allyship is the active support of a person with social power for others without that power.

Despite comprising nearly 80% of the teaching force, women hold just 30% of top leadership jobs in the 500 largest districts. Men can and should play a big role as allies for women in K-12 education leadership. The allyship of men is critical to effectively address the gender gap in education leadership.

Women Leading Ed and the National Center for Grow Your Own will host a live digital dialogue with experienced male and female education leaders on the allyship of men in advancing solutions to the gender gap in education leadership. The dialogue will be moderated by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, CEO of Women Leading Ed. Panelists include David Donaldson (Founder of National Center for Grow Your Own), Dr. Christina Grant (State Superintendent, Office of the State Superintendent, D.C.), Dr. Thomas Taylor (Superintendent, Stafford County Public Schools), and Dr. Arsenio Romero (Secretary of the Public Education Department of New Mexico).

Join the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Smyth County Public Schools, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to hear how education leaders in Virginia are leveraging Grow Your Own pathways to address statewide teacher shortages. You will hear details about the VDOE's recently announced Grow Your Own initiative, which includes a multi-million dollar investment to 28 school divisions across the state to assist in creating registered teacher apprenticeship programs -- in partnership with Virginia-based universities -- for community-based aspiring educators. This will include a highlight of VCU's partnership with 8 school divisions of varying size across 4 regions. You will also hear about Smyth County Public Schools' innovative "Teachers for Tomorrow" model, which leverages high school dual credit, partnerships with Wytheville Community College and Virginia Highlands Community College, and a partnership with Emory & Henry College, to offer dramatically reduced tuition rates for aspiring educators.

In July 2023, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) became the first state in the nation to receive approval from the US Department of Labor to launch a principal registered apprenticeship program. Almost one year later, NDDPI and the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO) have released the new K-12 Principal Registered Apprenticeship Playbook. This webinar will go over North Dakota's success and lessons learned to date while also providing an overview of the playbook. The webinar will feature State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler of NDDPI, David Donaldson, founder of NCGYO, and a representative from the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), with more guests to be announced closer to the event.

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder (Director of Schools, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System), Dr. Lisa Barron (Associate Dean and Director of Teacher Education and Partnerships, Austin Peay State University), and David Donaldson (Founder, National Center for Grow Your Own) to learn more about the nation's first Teacher Registered Apprenticeship Program, built in partnership between Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin Peay State University. These individuals were all involved in the creation of the Tennessee Registered Apprenticeship model, the first in the nation to be recognized by the United States Department of Labor. You'll hear about how the Tennessee program got off the ground, where things are today, and how this Tennessee program sparked a national movement.

In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the occupation of a K-12 teacher as eligible for registered apprenticeship with the first program approved in January 2022. The National Center for Grow Your Own's founder, David Donaldson, was the lead author on both applications (occupation and program approval) back when he served as Chief of Human Capital for the Tennessee Department of Education.

Since then, leaders from across the country have launched their own programs. These new programs are innovative and adapted to the local context. However, only a few have been able to move from pilot to sustainable funding.

This panel is made up of leaders who have each taken different approaches to build financially sustainable pathways and are always continuing to explore other opportunities for long term growth and success.

Please join leaders from Delaware, North Dakota and Washington D.C. while also hearing additional funding lessons learned from the National Registered Apprenticeship in Teaching Network.

This webinar will explore key strategies to address the critical aspects of resilience and well-being for education leaders, with panelists sharing insights into the district and state superintendency and the ways to cultivate a more resilient pipeline that has long term benefits to help accelerate progress.

Moderator:

David Donaldson, Founder and Managing Partner, National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO)

Panelists:

Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, CEO of ILO Group and Women Leading Ed

Dr. Luvelle Brown, Superintendent of Ithaca City School District (ICSD)

Dr. Sydnee Dickson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Utah

Join us for an insightful webinar co-hosted by the National Center for Grow Your Own and the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP), where we will explore the intersection of national accreditation and registered teacher apprenticeships. This webinar will engage in conversation around the intersection of accreditation and registered teacher apprenticeship programs in ensuring the quality and rigor of educator preparation in this space.

Participants will learn how AAQEP’s quality assurance process aligns with apprenticeship frameworks, supporting the development of competent, well-prepared educators. This webinar is an essential opportunity for SEA and LEA leaders, EPPs and stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding of the EPP’s role in the apprenticeship process and its impact on the future of teacher preparation through registered apprenticeships.

In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the occupation of a K-12 teacher as eligible for registered apprenticeship with the first program approved in January 2022. Since then, states across the country have launched their own registered teacher apprenticeship program models.

This panel is made up of leaders from three state agencies--Connecticut State Department of Education, Nebraska Department of Education, and Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission-who have engaged in the critical work of implementing a registered teacher apprenticeship model based on their local contexts.

In honor of National Apprenticeship Week, please join us for this first part of NCGYO's three part National Apprenticeship Week Webinar Series providing a national perspective on registered teacher apprenticeship programs.

In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the occupation of a K-12 teacher as eligible for registered apprenticeship with the first program approved in January 2022. Since then, states across the country have launched their own registered teacher apprenticeship program models.

This panel is made up of leaders from three state agencies -- Virginia Department of Education, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, and the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development -- who have embarked on the critical work of implementing statewide registered teacher apprenticeship models.

In honor of National Apprenticeship Week, please join us for this second part of NCGYO's National Apprenticeship Week Webinar Series, providing a national perspective on registered teacher apprenticeship programs.

In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the occupation of a K-12 teacher as eligible for registered apprenticeship with the first program approved in January 2022. Since then, states across the country have launched their own registered teacher apprenticeship program models.

This panel is made up of leaders from three state agencies--Arkansas Department of Education, Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, and Delaware Department of Education -who have engaged in the critical work of implementing a registered teacher apprenticeship model based on their local contexts.

In honor of National Apprenticeship Week, please join us for this third part of NCGYO's three part National Apprenticeship Week Webinar Series providing a national perspective on registered teacher apprenticeship programs.

We are celebrating the three year anniversary of the first registered apprenticeship program approved by the USDOL for K-12 teaching!

With the incredible expansion of these programs from one state to over forty-five states, we must pivot from focusing on growth to quality.

This session will build off of lessons learned and conversations with NCGYO's National Registered Apprenticeship in Teaching State Network to chart the path forward for registered apprenticeships in teaching.