LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Education leaders have long wondered how to attract more teachers to the classroom while also making sure they're qualified.
"It's not just the curriculum, but it's classroom management," said Sarah Beth Estes, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
A combined $3.6 million will be awarded to UALR and Southern Arkansas University with UA Little Rock receiving $1.6 million over the next three years.
University leaders said that the funding could improve pathways into the teaching profession with the potential to boost the quality, quantity, and diversity of the state's teacher workforce.
Estes said UALR's portion of the grant will revamp its traditional student teaching model.
"Extend that into a more residency-based model and make it year long, not semester... not a few months," Estes said.
She acknowledged that student teaching, whether it be a traditional or more modern model, still presents challenges.
The goal here is to make the future teachers' classrooms ready immediately after graduation.
"You might already have a job and that means how am I going to do my student teaching that, you know, got this job," Estes said.
The funding could also allow the university to pay students and reduce barriers.
Ben Kutylo is the executive director at Forward Arkansas, the nonprofit organization responsible for the funding.
"The goal of this program generally was to increase the quantity, preparedness, and diversity of teachers statewide to address this need," Estes said.
Still, he said the majority of Arkansas teachers come from university prep programs.
"We developed this program to identify those universities that are really committed to helping solve this challenge," Estes said.
That is something Estes said UALR is seeking. She wants to make sure future teachers are ready for the classroom.
"When we better educate teachers, we should be helping school districts with the turnover issues," Estes said.
The teacher residency model is set to being in the fall semester of 2023.