- The Transition to Teaching program grants funding to state and local educational institutions, business and nonprofit organizations and institutes of higher education. They collaborate with state and local educational institutions for the purpose of recruiting and retaining highly qualified professionals and paraprofessionals to schools in need. These programs also help fund the advancement of alternative certification routes for teachers that allow them to become certified more quickly without advanced training in the field of education. The grants last five years. The professionals must serve for at least three years. Grantees develop plans to support and train these professionals to serve in their programs as a part of the grant process.
- Organizations, not individuals, may apply for the grant. These organizations include institutes of higher education, local and state educational agencies, as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations. High-need agencies are defined as those which serve no less than 10,000 students from families with household incomes below the poverty line, or local educational agencies that serve 20 percent or more of students below the poverty line. In addition, a high percentage of teachers must either be teaching in subject areas outside of their training or have emergency, provisional or temporary certification or licensing.
- The U.S. Department of Education suggests that grant applicants research alternative routes to certification in preparation for their grant applications. In addition, grant applicants should research issues involving teacher recruitment, teacher training and teacher quality. Furthermore, applicants can research related grants though the U.S. Department of Education.
- The funding available for the Transition to Teaching program varies from year to year. In 2009, for example, 14 new awards and 73 continuation awards were anticipated. In 2010, no new awards were anticipated, while 93 continuation awards were anticipated. The range of new awards was $306,646 to $755,499 in 2009. The range of continuation awards was $175,000 to $3,327,000 as of 2010, according the U.S. Department of Education. The application for the Transition to Teaching program can be found on the U.S. Department of Education website. Any questions should be directed to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Development, Teacher Quality Division. Technical assistance questions are welcomed by the staff. The contact information can be found on the website as well.
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