Prospective teachers starting college in high school

She always knew she wanted to be a teacher, and then she heard about an Erie 1 BOCES program where she could earn 17 college credits toward a teaching degree.

BOCES collaborated with SUNY Buffalo State University to create New Visions Education Pathways Academy, where high school students can explore careers in education while earning both college and high school credits.

“I wasn’t expecting to have this happen,” she said. “I was just assuming that I was just going to go into my senior year and just have a regular school year.”

The partnership is just one of the initiatives Erie 1 BOCES hopes will interest more students to go into the education field.

It’s also timely. New York State will need 180,000 new teachers over the next 10 years. Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has declined 53% since 2009, and one-third of current teachers will be eligible to retire in the next five years.

“That combination of decreased enrollment in teacher prep programs, along with the anticipated need and pending retirements, certainly is a challenging combination,” said Erie 1 BOCES Superintendent Michael Capuana.

Teachers in some academic areas are in short supply. Erie 1 BOCES hosts an applicant tracking system, and in Erie County in July and August, there were 126 special education positions posted, as well as 27 science teachers and 15 math teachers, Capuana said.

This fall, Gollwitzer started year two at Buff State. With the 17 credits in the Education Pathways Academy, and other credits from college level courses she took in high school, she was able to skip her freshman academic year.

“It’s my second year right now, but I’m actually in my junior year of college, which is really awesome that I was able to get past the whole year,” Gollwitzer said.

Classes in the Education Pathways program are held mornings at Buffalo State, and students go to their high schools in the afternoon.

“They learn about content and how to best deliver it, instructional strategies and behavior management to child adolescent development, English and writing,” said instructor Anthony Lleras.

And they don’t miss out on special senior year activities.

“Mr. Lleras was super willing to let us go to those events at school, even if it meant missing a day of class,” Gollwitzer said, “so he was super understanding and made sure that we still got our senior experience while being in the program.”

Lleras said the program came about as educators were thinking about ways to interest students in a career in education.

“No matter where you go, all of these credits are transferable and independent of what degree you choose to pursue,” he said.

The first year, there were seven students. This year, there are 16, Lleras said. He said he always tells students that if they learn nothing else than teaching isn’t for them, that’s a valuable lesson.

“That is a huge thing to learn at 17 or 18 years old and not 24, like a lot of people I went to college with who got in the classroom and were like, ‘Uh oh, this isn’t for me,’” he said.

Lleras said his job is to engage students and help them develop a passion for education.

Another program Erie 1 BOCES has had for several decades is Early Childhood Education, in which high school juniors and seniors run their own preschool. There now are preschools at all three BOCES Career and Technical Education centers. Students also do a semester-long internship at a different setting, usually in their home district.

“Some have had no experience with children, and they leave with amazing confidence, because they’re able to manage the students,” said Jaime Lubs, an Early Childhood Education instructor. “They know what to do with behaviors, not to mention they know all the bookwork that goes along with it, you know, writing a lesson plan, supporting all of their ideas and their curriculum.”

Some stay in early childhood careers, while others may go onto elementary education, Lubs said.

In another effort to support education as a career, Erie 1 BOCES was awarded a $3.1 million Empire State Teacher Residency Program grant earlier this year.

The grant will support 104 teacher residents through a collaborative partnership with 21 Western New York school districts. The program fully or partially funds master’s degrees for teacher residents, while they gain valuable experience by spending an entire year with a school.

BOCES will work with Buffalo State, Canisius University, Niagara University and the University at Buffalo. Its leaders and staff also are encouraging teachers to go into leadership positions, and school leaders to go into central office posts.

“Our focus really has been on just trying to identify very direct solutions,” Capuana said, “where we can work with higher ed and through our own programming and directly with our school districts, to have students consider that profession, [and] understand truly the value and the impact that you can have on so many different people in their life trajectory.”