218
Midland University
11213 Davenport Street Omaha NE 68154
https://www.midlandu.edu/
Dr. Sara Tiedeman
Associate Vice President
tiedeman@midlandu.edu
+1 (402) 941-6380
Yes
Upload
Upload
Founded in 1883, Midland University is where you go to find your purpose. Better yet, it’s where your purpose is our priority. Here, students are provided relevant opportunities in more than 30 academic areas, four graduate programs, and a wide range of professional studies programs at both our Fremont and Omaha locations. Recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education as the 9th fastest-growing private, nonprofit baccalaureate institution in the country, Midland takes a modern approach to liberal arts education. This is where teaching leaders go to create master winners. By working from the marketplace back, we can prepare next-gen innovators with the skills necessary to thrive and lead in the world. Midland University has had a successful Teacher Career Ladder (TCL) program for eight years. The TCL is a proven example of successful innovation on how to provide more teachers into the profession. Through six cohorts we have increased the teachers in the field by over 100 teachers.
Teacher Career Ladder Program
3542000.0
1425820.0
Service/program
The Teacher Ladder Program will provide current education assistants the opportunity to become teachers while allowing Community Schools the opportunity to build a workforce that embraces School District’s commitment to excellence in a manner that is reflective of the student body. This initiative will have a positive impact on student engagement, belonging, and achievement. Midland University recognizes that a critical pipeline for quality teachers can be the para-educator serving in our school classrooms. We have developed a program that provides the opportunity for paras to complete the required coursework to meet the requirements of Nebraska Teacher Certification.
January 2023 Recruit individuals from QCT to the TCL Program Cohort 1 (C1) May 2023 C1Cohort Begins August 2023 C1 Fall Classes January 2024 C1 Spring Classes May 2024 C1 Summer Classes Cohort 2 (C2) Summer Classes August 2024 C1 Year Two Fall Classes / C2 Year One Fall Classes January 2025 C1 Year Two Spring Semester Student Teaching / C2 Year Two Fall Classes May 2025 C1 Participants Receive Teaching Certificate / C2 Year Two Summer Classes August 2025 C2 Year Two Fall Classes January 2026 C2 Year Two Spring Semester Student Teaching May 2026 C2 Participants Receive Teaching Certificate
1.0
Fundamental Change (i.e., a proposal that will continue to elevate North or South Omaha's presence and perception within the region, significantly improving the lives of area residents through physical development) Long-Lasting Economic Growth (i.e., a proposal that will foster gainful employment opportunities and financial investment in the area, leading to the creation of generational wealth and widespread economic vitality in North and South Omaha) Transformational (i.e., a proposal that will help energize, recharge, or spur significant and favorable advancements in North or South Omaha's function or appearance)
Policy (i.e., develop or improve context-sensitive education, finance, health, training, zoning, etc.) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
Many school districts face chronic teacher shortages. This is especially true for some specialty positions such as special education and English language learners. However, even greater than the need to simply fill positions is the need to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce. The teacher workforce is still largely white, even in districts where the majority of students are not. Research over the past twenty years continues to illuminate the barriers that disproportionately burden underrepresent potential teacher candidates. Many districts attempt to combat this problem by recruiting educators from other districts or states. Research shows that this can lead to lower retention and less connection to the community. It is also insufficient to meet the need in most districts (EducatorFI.com). Teacher Career Ladder (TCL) programs builds deliberate pathways from the community to the classroom while bringing racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity and skills into schools. Midland University is committed to developing, enhancing, and sustaining a pipeline of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse educators who embrace the commitment to excellence and are reflective of districts student bodies. A diversity gap exists between the white and monolingual teacher workforce and the racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse student population served in North and South Omaha. The North and South area currently has certified staff that represents 75% female and 25% male with 2% representing Hispanic and less than 1% representation of African American and Asian. The North and South classified staff demographic data for 2020-2021 identifies that 70% of the staff is female and 30% male, with a diversity of 14% African American, 5% Hispanic, and 3% Asian. Clearly by a committed effort with the TCL program the diversity in the teacher program will increase better matching that of the student population.
The Midland University TCL addresses a substantial number of the findings from the Visioning Workshops held in North and South Omaha. Beyond the Vision Workshop findings, it should be noted that the Midland University TCL program can be scaled to encompass individuals in other CXT areas across the state.
The Midland University is an innovative solution uniquely positioned to impact the recorded concerns from the North and South Omaha Community meetings in the areas of employment and underemployment, youth, transportation, childcare, industry, workforce, training, education, and supporting actions.
Midland University TCL will provide 60 individuals with the opportunity to be teachers.
Starting wage is $45,000 - $55,000 / year
Midland University will continue to find financial supports to continue the funding for programs in the QCT.
Every person deserves the opportunity for dignified employment that provides living wages and potential for advancement. However, for many in North and South Omaha today as a result of COVID, this is far from reality as they are caught in a cycle of low wage work, earning poverty wages, and unable to move up in the economy. Research shows that the skills of the existing workforce do not align with the needs of today’s employers which complicates attracting and retaining skilled workers. This is often referred to a skills gap. Effective training is widely acknowledged as the key to mitigating the impact of a widening skills gap. This project will work 100% with underrepresented groups and those caught in intergenerational cycles of poverty from the QCT communities specifically addressing those who are unemployed or underemployed with opportunities to connect those individuals to teaching opportunities
The program continues to develop relationships with business partners and local foundations to diversify the revenue streams through support of ongoing scholarship opportunities. The program also has a strong plan for collaboration with business partners to create continued opportunities. The continual reinvestment into the program and a variety of payment pathways will allow the program to sustain long after the LB1024 funding and allow for a long lasting impact. This is essential as the need within the Omaha community and greater Nebraska area will continue for these types of positions.
The Midland University TCL uses evidence-informed and evidenced based practices through the most current research and best practice for a framework for designing a program that is sensitive to the vulnerabilities and realities of upskilling and/or reskilling with the end-to-end journey model. The end-to-end reskilling journey model identifies the following six nonlinear dimensions of: encouraging user entry, building self-efficacy, navigating careers and systems, assisting with economic and social barriers, providing good content and teaching and lastly sustaining support. This framework addresses the needs of any individual who seeks reskilling and/or upskilling. It is important that any framework used identifies friction points that individuals face and encourage a universal and intentional program design that allows navigation through those points. Stakeholders using this framework have found success in reskilling individuals who are motivated and offer a specific knowledge base that it essential to the workforce.
Midland University is committed to developing, enhancing, and sustain a pipeline of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse educators who embrace our commitment to excellence and are reflective of our student body. 1. Recruit and select highly qualified (currently employed) Educational Assistants from the North and South Omaha ranks. 2. Enroll them in a paid program of study with a post-secondary partnership in the PK-6 educational arena, with a pathway to Nebraska teacher certification. 3. After completion, employ them to teach in North and South Omaha Community Schools classrooms and enrich the students’ lives in new and even more meaningful ways.
The following information will be the metrics on which we will measure implementation fidelity and evaluation success: 1. Did the programming help to meet our overall recruitment goals as described in the district strategic plan? 2. What percentage of program participants (across all efforts) remained in the programs through completion and certification? 3. What percentage of program participants were hired to teach in Westside? Of those participant, do participants represent diverse identities (as disclosed)? 4. Do program participants who are hired by Westside remain as teachers longer than the typical novice teacher? 5. Did implemented programming increase overall percentages of staff who report belonging to diverse identities AND disaggregated percentages of staff who report belonging to diverse identities? The following evaluation tools and methods will be used for the metrics: 1. Course grades and attendance quarterly reports 2. Participation rates in academic and social supplementary supports 3. Quarterly participant feedback surveys (as well as focus groups/document reviews, etc.) 4. Participant interviews at entrance and exit of programming 5. Praxis-Core scores and completion rates 6. Program completion rates for each initiative 7. Recruitment and job placement data reports 8. Attrition and retention data reports
No
Yes
Omaha Public Schools, Westside Community Schools, Fremont Public Schools, Millard Schools, Papillion LaVista Community Schools, Ralston Public Schools
All of these have formal MOUs with Midland University
No
Midland University TCL program is a hybrid program with an online option therefore, the program will be highly available and accessible to anyone interested in the designated QCT areas. This grant request is focused on QCT areas east of Interstate 680 and west of the Missouri River referred to as the North and South Omaha Qualified Census Tract. Should the committee wish to expand the Midland University TCL program to include QCT areas in other regions of Nebraska we can readily scale to include more young people from a wide geography.
Within one or more QCTs
This program will serve all eligible participants in the stated QCT areas as we do not have the limitations of traditional brick and mortar programming.
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
The grant is the tuition rate from the University however, the program scholarship for each participant is keeps the grant request considerable low.
100% of the funds will be used for student tuition and fees in the Midland University TCL program.
Yes
Sustainability through Public Private Partnerships - In short, the program will be fiscally sustainable and will not require ongoing primary funding for operations or be solely dependent on additional funding requests.
Future funding will come proportionally from private industry, philanthropy, and government. No specific funding sources have been identified.
No
The final outcome of teacher certification does not allow the program to be completed in smaller components.
Midland University will provide a 60% tuition scholarship for all participants.
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
Data table of uses (breakdown of how the requested funds will be used for your proposal) Organizational Chart Proposal Budget/Sources and Uses Schedule