See page 17 of

Year 3 Quarter 4 Progress Report

Recognizing that pathways also contribute to 3.3, the following steps are moving with various degrees of implementation. MPS High School Students continue to be introduced to the teaching profession through South and Henry/Camden - funding continues through a grant from MDE. High School pathway through CTE is set to begin for fall 2024.

We are in the process of developing SpEd teacher apprenticeships with Owatonna and North Branch. Mankato will be at full implementation in the fall. Our partnership with Metro State University is being installed for an elementary program (with preK option) for a pre apprentice program with full implementation in 25-26

MPS academy -PELSB approved program (RIPA in October) recruited first cohort of candidates and first group of faculties. Courses start in June with candidates in the classroom this coming fall. Our established St. Thomas Residency begins its 8th cohort in the fall with 13 of the 20 candidates representing our BIPOC educators.

We actively participate in diverse recruiting events, both in person and online, to connect with our communities and attract high-quality candidates. Last year, we connected with approximately 1,000 candidates through recruiting events, both in person and online.

Some notable efforts included the People of Color Career Fair held at the Minneapolis Convention Center to recruit diverse licensed and non-licensed professionals where we connected with more than 180 candidates. This fair has been instrumental in hiring classroom support staff for schools like Las Estrellas, Green Central, Anderson, Emerson, and other departments and schools.

We partnered with external organizations including COPAL, Global Market, Metro State University, and Facebook group Madres Latinas for recruiting efforts for all staff positions and subsequent hirings including bi-lingual staff and next steps for hiring American Indian teachers and staff. A pool of candidates is established to continue this work as positions in our schools become available.

Ongoing Work

• Negotiations with ESP union to ensure salaries are competitive and that the infrastructure exists within MPS to ensure that staff are treated as education professionals 

Upcoming Work

• MPS Academy (MPS-A) launching first cohort in spring 2024 which will provide an in-house, tuition-free MPS path to special education licensure 
• Develop Teacher Apprenticeship program in partnership with higher education partners to submit our application to the State in December 2023

• 20.5% of teachers identify as people of color
• Awarded the Special Education Pipeline Grant from MDE, $747,600 over FY25-29 
• Two Grow Your Own (GYO) grant applications submitted in Jan. to MN Department of Education to support the Future Educator high school pathway and adult GYO pathways; requesting $1.25 million total over FY25-26

Ongoing Work

• Implementing the Early Contract hiring process for 2024-25 licensed positions
• Partnering with Metro State University, Mankato State University, and Owatonna Public Schools to develop an undergraduate Teacher Apprenticeship GYO pathway for ESPs who hold an AA
• Convening the Q Comp Governance Labor Management Committee to improve Q Comp implementation
• Negotiations with ESP union to ensure salaries are competitive and that the infrastructure exists within MPS to ensure that staff are treated as education professionals 

Upcoming Work

• Launch 1st Cohort of MPS Academy in spring 2024 (first PELSB-approved, district-embedded teacher prep program in MN)
• Reconvene a labor-management task force to revise the Standards of Effective Instruction (SOEI) and classroom observation model 
• Develop hiring manager training for Davis Center hiring managers

This strategy must be reassessed/replaced as a need.  The foundation for this work may have been in planning from the Comprehensive District Design, but a tool was not developed and schools were not named.

Substantial time was spent in supporting Anishinaabe, CityView, and Bethune through additional cadre support. Recruitment was targeted by working with the Indian Education department to tap into community partners to recruit at those sites and get temp supports. The Human Resources Recruitment team attends at several Indian Education sponsored events to help Anishinaabe to have staff reflective of the students they serve.