By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
EDMOND — Applause from friends and families filled Constitution Hall on University of Central Oklahoma’s campus as students declared their intent to be the state’s next generation of educators.
Similar to a signing day for athletes, students planning to enroll as education majors at the university signed “letters of intent” to become the next generation of educators.
Students traveled to Edmond from their hometowns across the state, excited to celebrate their futures in education and hoping to snag some of the $100,000 in scholarship money at the event. They were met with UCO merchandise, snacks and desserts, and time to meet with current students and faculty at the college of education.
With teacher shortages at the center of state leaders’ conversations, UCO is one of Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities looking for unique approaches to incentivize students to become the next generation of educators.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have identified teaching as a “critical occupation” and have pledged to produce more graduates in the field.
Across the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, which includes 25 public colleges and universities, nearly 3,100 education degrees were awarded during the 2023-24 school year, up from a low of almost 2,700 in the 2018-19 school year.
Almost 92% of graduates with a bachelor’s degree in teaching are working in Oklahoma classrooms after one year, according to data from the state regents. After five years, about 80% are still working in Oklahoma.
Proponents say this growth is proof that the campus-by-campus initiatives they’ve launched in recent years are working.
Universities are frequently turning to financial incentives to tackle the shortages.
Inspired to Teach is a statewide incentive program offering qualified Oklahoma college students the opportunity to earn over $25,000 as they complete their education and teach in Oklahoma post-graduation.
Of the 38 participating public and private higher education institutions, UCO, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University have the highest enrollment in the program, said Angela Caddell, a spokesperson for the state regents. Since the program’s launch, $13.5 million has been disbursed, and 6,500 participants are currently enrolled, she said.
Caddell said the state regents anticipated growth will continue and that since the program’s inception, freshman enrollment in teacher education programs has increased 30%.
At OU, a lot of the work to address the teacher shortage comes from recruitment and scholarships, said Stacy Reeder, dean of the college of education.
“I’m an Oklahoman and a lifetime Oklahoma educator,” she said. “And I always tell our students, there’s more money than ever to be a teacher. It’s a great time to decide to be a teacher because we’ve got so much funding for you and you have a guaranteed job.”
The OU Debt Free Teachers Program offers $20,000 scholarships to 25 to 30 students each year who are accepted into the program. Students are given $5,000 each year to put toward their education and they can “teach it off.” Students must teach in Oklahoma for at least four years after graduation or the money reverts to a loan and must be repaid.
In the decade the donor-funded program has been operating, Reeder said there has been a 94% retention rate of students, and program graduates have been placed “all over” the state.
At UCO’s teacher signing event, the school distributed over $100,000 in recruitment and retention scholarships among the 62 students in attendance.
The scholarships are funded through “special workforce development funds” allocated by the state regents, said Kim Pennington, assistant dean for the university’s college of education.
Jennifer Burris, project manager for teacher recruitment and retention at UCO, said the school started the program to help tackle the teacher shortage.
UCO had already admitted 400 new educators as of March, a 37% increase from this time last year.
The state Legislature also made efforts to end the teacher shortage and encourage current and future teachers to stay and work in Oklahoma, including extending the teacher salary schedule and extending existing college scholarships to the children of long-time Oklahoma teachers.
Stephanie Hathcock, a professor at OSU and interim head of OSU’s school of teaching, learning and educational sciences, said other university initiatives to recruit and retain teachers center around making education accessible and flexible.
OSU offers education degrees for elementary education fully online, giving students the ability to earn a degree from home. She said last budget year, around a third of OSU’s elementary education degrees were completed online.
“I think a lot of what we’ve been doing is responding to what’s happening within the state, trying to respond,” Hathcock said. “And we would love to get to a place where we can maintain and continue to just really do our jobs well, rather than having to continually kind of morph and respond, morph and respond.”
In an attempt to support educators in their first few years of teaching, OSU launched OK Thrive with financial support from legislative appropriations, donors and OSU. John Weaver, director of the program, said it’s intended to give new teachers a community to lean on through group meetings and individual coaching.
“We also know that the first few years of teaching are incredibly challenging,” Weaver said. “Across the nation, and in Oklahoma, show that you know, upwards of 40%, 50%, even some estimates show 60% of teachers leave within three to five years of being in the profession.”
The program has a 95% retention rate for its first two cohorts, with data not yet available for its current cohort, he said. The program operates in 50 schools across 25 school districts, Weaver said.
Teach to Transform is another OU program intended to offer community and support to future teachers. The program aims to “address the critical need for teachers from underserved populations” and places interested students in cohorts.
OU had a 22% increase in incoming freshmen at the college of education, but it will be a few years until it’s known if they are all retained, Reeder said.
“I think there’s a tremendous need to elevate the teaching profession, and that can happen in a variety of ways,” Reeder said. “Just general support for and trust in teachers is something we really are lacking. And I think that’s played a big role in the teacher shortage as well.”
