What to Know About 'Grow Your Own' Teacher Programs

Fill classroom gaps.

School districts often struggle to find well-qualified special education and English as a second language teachers, experts say. But some states are looking to use GYO programs to fill those gaps.

The Tennessee education department awarded grow your own grants to teacher preparation programs across the state, like Tennessee State University, that are partnering with local school districts to fill positions. The grants cover tuition, textbooks and fees for teacher candidates. Upon graduation from TSU's program, participants earn a dual credential in either special education or ESL, in addition to their initial endorsement, to address local school district shortages in these positions.

GYO programs "can be very intentionally designed to ensure that the teachers going through them are meeting the needs of the state," Garcia of New America says. "There are programs for STEM teachers and other shortage areas."

Address barriers to entering the profession.

As the cost of college rises, many teachers take on considerable debt to earn a degree. But in states such as Illinois, Minnesota and Tennessee, candidates are eligible to receive financial support through GYO programs.

"While loan forgiveness programs do exist, these are retroactive and so don't do much to solve the debt issue in the short term," Garcia says. "By providing financial assistance upfront, teachers prepared via GYO are able to graduate with less debt, which is an important consideration given that in some states they may only be earning $40,000 a year starting out."