Early Progress and Outcomes of a Grow Your Own Grant Program for High School Students and Paraprofessionals in Texas

The Texas Education Agency launched the Grow Your Own (GYO) grant program in 2018 to encourage districts to develop or expand existing high-quality education and training courses for high school students and to support district-employed paraprofessionals to pursue certifications that would allow them to enter full-time teaching roles.

Leaders at the Texas Education Agency partnered with REL Southwest to conduct a study about the characteristics of GYO districts and the progress and early outcomes of students and paraprofessionals in districts awarded GYO grants. This study analyzed data from 2015/16 through 2020/21 for districts that received GYO funding in the first two grant cycles and districts in the same locales within the same regions that did not receive GYO funding (comparison districts).

Key findings:

• Consistent with the focus of the Texas Education Agency, the majority of GYO districts were in rural areas or small towns. However, rural areas were still less represented among GYO districts than among non–GYO districts.
• The GYO grant program appeared to meet the Texas Education Agency’s goal of providing opportunities to students and paraprofessionals in small school settings and to students of color to participate in GYO activities.
• Less than 10 percent of the students in GYO districts completed at least one education and training course each year during the grant period.
• It is too soon to tell whether the program will, over time, increase the number of male students who may be interested in becoming educators; however, early signs show that most students completing education and training courses in GYO districts were female.
• It is also too soon to tell whether the program will, over time, help the state increase the size of its teaching pool. However, early signs suggest that the share of students completing education and training courses in GYO districts is unchanged since 2015/16 and similar to that in comparison districts.

Read and download the report: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Publication/100848

Related resources:

• Webinar: Grow Your Own Program, From State Education Agency to School District to Student Outcomes (December 15, 2021)
• Blog post: Supporting State Education Agencies to Design and Implement Grow Your Own Teacher Programs (December 7, 2021)