Following an established REL Northeast & Islands research protocol, we conducted a search for recent research on teacher preparation programs focused on developing a pipeline of community- based teachers who come from the community in which they will one day teach. We focused on identifying resources that specifically addressed research on the effectiveness of such programs intended on reaching students in their high school years, such as Future Teacher and “Grow Your Own” . The sources searched included ERIC and other federally funded databases and organizations, academic research databases, and general Internet search engines (For details, please see the methods section at the end of this memo.)

We have not evaluated the quality of references and the resources provided in this response and we offer them only for your reference. Because our search for references is based on the most commonly used resources of research, it is not comprehensive and other relevant references and resources may exist.

Research References

1. Fallona, C., & Johnson, A. (2019). Approaches to "Grow Your Own" and Dual General and Special Education Certification. Maine Education Policy Research Institute, University of Maine.
   https://eric.ed.gov/?q=&id=ED596246
   From the abstract: “The shortage of special education teachers is a persistent problem in Maine. In addition to the shortage of individuals prepared to work as special education teachers, there is also a need to support special education students in the general education classroom. The majority of students who are identified with disabilities spend most of their time in classrooms with general education teachers. Yet, general education teachers' preparation to work with the special education students in their classrooms is limited. In order to address the need for teachers who are prepared and qualified to work with students with disabilities, the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs commissioned this study by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute as part of its 2018-2019 work plan. The purpose of this study is to examine dual general and special education and "Grow Your Own" approaches to teacher certification. To that end, this report begins by providing a review of relevant published research, followed by an overview of the components of teacher credentialing, requirements for general and special education teacher certification in Maine, and information about the current teacher certification pathways and programs in Maine. This is followed by descriptions of new approaches to teacher preparation that Maine might consider in order to address the need for certified special educators and general educators who are better prepared to work with students with disabilities. This background information is followed by profiles of dual certification and Grow Your Own teacher preparation models and education policies and programs in other states that are designed to address the shortage of qualified teachers who are prepared to meet the needs of students with disabilities. In conclusion, possible education policy implications for Maine are identified.”
2. Gagnon, D. J., & Mattingly, M. J. (2015). State policy responses to ensuring excellent educators in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 30(13), 1-13.
   https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1083786
   https://search.proquest.com/openview/178d53742810dbdf3a074b0e60ac567e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=39788
   From the abstract: “The Excellent Educators for All initiative is the most recent federal policy effort to address unequal access to teacher quality in the United States. States were required to submit equity plans to the U.S. Department of Education that detailed how to ensure that poor and minority children do not receive instruction from less qualified teachers. States could extend their plans to include rural students, although this was not a statutory requirement. Past federal reform efforts around raising teacher quality have been widely criticized as being overly prescriptive, and ultimately failing to account for the unique contexts of rural schools. We examine the extent to which rural needs are addressed in all available state equity plans. We find that roughly half of U.S. states examine equity gaps along the urban-rural continuum, and roughly half propose rural- specific policy solutions to improve rural school staffing, although less than a third do both. States across the country employ a range of strategies in roughly equal measure, including grow your own programs, financial incentives, communities of practice, and capacity building. In addition to detailing findings and providing nuanced examples, this article also discusses implications for students and state policy.”
3. Sutton, J. P., Bausmith, S. C., O'connor, D. M., Pae, H. A., & Payne, J. R. (2014). Building special education teacher capacity in rural schools: Impact of a grow your own program. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 33(4), 14-23.
   https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1147499
   https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Building-Special-Education-Teacher-Capacity-in-of-a-Sutton-Bausmith/ea32952bc6bedef146dcffa513ddaeca41d3b5c6
   From the abstract: “Rural education has a legacy of unique challenges, with highest priority needs in the South. Chief among these challenges are the conditions of poverty associated with many rural districts and the education of students with disabilities.
   Compared with their urban and suburban counterparts, rural teachers experience higher rates of turnover, and rural schools find it more difficult to recruit teachers from the start. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a grow your own (GYO) program equitably increased special education teacher capacity in one Southern state's rural and non-rural school districts. The sample included 638 participants who completed special education teacher licensure programs over the 8-year period, 2003-2011.
   Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in one demographic variable, licensure area. The rural group had disproportionately fewer program completers in emotional disabilities and more in multi-categorical. Additional analysis showed a significantly higher percentage of program completers in the rural group. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.”
4. Swanson, P. B. (2011). Georgia's grow-your-own teacher programs attract the right stuff. The High School Journal, 94(3), 119-133.
   https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ925915
   http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.916.1969&rep=rep1&type=pdf
   From the abstract: “There is a shortage of educators and there are various factors that account for the lack of teachers. Millions of new teachers will be needed in the near future and the present study juxtaposes the vocational personality profiles of adolescents (N = 262) participating in Future Educators of America programs in Georgia to in-service teachers' profiles as determined by Holland's "Self-Directed Search" inventory. Using Holland's theoretical framework for congruence between one's personality and the workplace as a lens, the results indicated that adolescents in the future educator programs shared the same Holland code as in-service teachers. Noting that teachers tend to return to the area in which they were raised, findings from this research have serious implications for the identification and recruitment of tomorrow's teaching force.”
5. Valenzuela, A. (2017). Grow Your Own Educator Programs: A Review of the Literature with an Emphasis on Equity-Based Approaches. Literature Review. Equity Assistance Center Region II, Intercultural Development Research Association.
   https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED582731
   From the abstract: “This literature review provides an overview of the research on Grow Your Own (GYO) educator programs as a strategy for states and district to employ to help recruit and retain teachers of color. It emphasizes equitable approaches and critical perspectives that combine the powerful roles of "homegrown" teachers, culturally- relevant curriculum and social justice pedagogy in addressing achievement and opportunity gaps, especially for the nation's woefully underserved, largely urban schools serving students of color (e.g., Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005; Sanders & Rivers, 1996). This review begins with a summary of the vast inequities in the representation of teachers in color in our nation's primary and secondary schools. It next defines important terms in GYO scholarship, such as pathways, pipelines, and partnerships (Gist, Bianco, & Lynn, in press). Next follows a discussion of community solidarity, which provides helpful language for distinguishing GYO models like those examined here, from perhaps many, if not most, university-based teacher preparation programs in the United States (Zeichner, 2016; Kretchmar & Zeichner, 2016). The review ends with a summary of specific GYO-program types that could potentially not only increase equity in terms of the number of teachers of color entering the profession but also help ensure that those teachers are critically conscious leaders (Valenzuela, 2016).”

Methods

Keywords and Search Strings

The following keywords and search strings were used to search the reference databases and other sources:

“Grow Your Own” teacher preparation

“Future teacher” program high school

“high school” teacher development program

Databases and Resources

We searched ERIC for relevant resources. ERIC is a free online library of over 1.6 million citations of education research sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences. Additionally, we searched Google Scholar and PsychInfo.

Reference Search and Selection Criteria

When we were searching and reviewing resources, we considered the following criteria:

Date of the publication: References and resources published for last 10 years, from 2009 to present, were included in the search and review.

Search Priorities of Reference Sources: Search priority is given to study reports, briefs, and other documents that are published and/or reviewed by IES and other federal or federally funded organizations, academic databases, including WWC, ERIC, and NCEE.

Methodology: The following methodological priorities/considerations were given in the review and selection of the references: (a) study types – randomized control trials, quasi experiments, surveys, descriptive data analyses, literature reviews, policy briefs, etc., generally in this order; (b) target population, samples (representativeness of the target population, sample size, volunteered or randomly selected, etc.), study duration, etc.; (c) limitations, generalizability of the findings and conclusions, etc.