National University receives the U.S. Department of Education Teacher Quality Partnership grant to tackle one of the city's main issues in education, teacher shortages.
The school is a veteran-founded nonprofit university that is recognized has one of the biggest distributors of teaching credentials in the U.S.
This news became official today, at a time period where the whole country is suffering from teacher shortages nowadays, especially after the rise of the COVID pandemic two years ago.
The teacher residency program in the city is called Advancing Student Progress through an Innovative Residency Experience (ASPIRE), which is a project that expands over a 5-year time period, and establishes a partnership to prepare up to 100 residents to become certified teachers for multiple or single subjects at the high school level within the Chula Vista Elementary School District.
Dr. Robert Lee, Dean of the Sanford College of Education, and also an educational expert, recently said the following on this teacher shortage issue:
"Addressing teacher shortages in California and nationally, starts by retaining newly prepared teachers through an adapted medical residency approach in which coursework and clinical experiences are tightly aligned and residents are supported by mentors in the schools where they will likely start their professional career. This program model is an example of how universities can intentionally partner with school districts and community-based organizations to fully immerse teacher candidates into the culture of a school, while providing contextually-situated mentoring for both professional growth and community acculturation."
Dr. Eduardo Reyes. Superintendent at Chula Vista Elementary School District says that they fully support National University's efforts in growing and developing the number of teacher credentials.
"The Chula Vista Elementary School District supports National University's mission to prepare exceptional, knowledgeable, skilled, and culturally responsive urban teachers who will be committed to our District," said Dr. Eduardo Reyes.
Superintendent Dr. Reyes also stated the following on why he strongly believes this partnership will ultimately enhance the school district's pool of qualified educators in the area.
"As we have developed a new system for enhancing teacher quality through our intensive mentoring and induction, NU's model for developing a co-teaching residency program will advance our collective work forward. We look forward to the recruitment opportunities ASPIRE will bring by filling our high-need teaching areas with a pool of highly qualified teachers who reflect our community's diversity. We see this program enhancing our schools and making a strong connection with our community."
