OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
JUNE 29, 2018 | VOL. 1, ISSUE 10
UNITED FOR ONE GOAL
Organizations team up to reverse the teacher shortage in America BY JAIME AARON
I
t’s Jan. 9, 2016, and the college football world is gearing up for what will go down as the first national championship matchup between the University of Alabama and Clemson University. Kickoff, however, is two days away. On this afternoon in Phoenix, the spotlight is on the Extra Yard for Teachers Summit. Just like how the title game serves as the signature event for the College Football Playoff, the Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) Summit is the signature event for the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation. Hundreds of educators
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are gathered for several hours of enrichment and entertainment by powerful, inspiring speakers and performers. Among them is Zachary Levine. Levine is the executive director of TEACH.org, an organization launched by Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Education to help pave the path into teaching for anyone interested. His speech is fascinating — and frightening. Because the number of teachers needed is growing far faster than the number entering the profession, we’re headed
toward a shortage of 100,000 teachers, a figure that extrapolates to impacting around 10 million students. Certain subject areas are especially lacking. Men of color are needed everywhere. Throughout the ballroom, heads nod. Teachers and other education thought leaders in the crowd are well aware of this issue. Then there’s CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky. While he was aware of a teacher shortage, he had no idea the outlook was this bleak. And then he realized something else: The CFP Foundation could be part of the solution.
www.cfp-foundation.org
The CFP Foundation began in 2013 with a mission of supporting early childhood through secondary education across the country. This happens through the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) platform. As the name implies, EYFT programming supports teachers by providing books, technology and furniture for classrooms; recognizing standout teachers through its college football partners; and, celebrating the teaching profession at events such as the annual EYFT Summit. Now, at this EYFT Summit in Phoenix, Banowsky sees the teacher shortage as a chance to kick things up a notch. With its resources and reach, the CFP Foundation can help grow the very community it serves. “Let’s try and tackle this,” Banowsky said to the man next to him, Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 Commissioner and a CFP Foundation board member. “Let’s see if we can
Fast forward to today. The CFP Foundation’s most visible effort has been promoting teaching as a profession to tens of millions through a variety of awareness campaigns. It’s also Britton has a goal of getting working with colleges qualified teachers in front of to encourage every student in the country, student-athletes to consider becoming and he’s using the platform teachers. Yet its of college athletics to tell the most impactful story of this need.” work has been NANCY ZIMPHER behind the scenes, bringing together top pull some people together and education officials and the experts extend this conversation.” from the Rockefeller Institute “It’s hand-in-glove with what of Government (RIG) to form a we’re doing,” Bowlsby responded. coalition called the Teacher Table.
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AWARENESS: Zachary Levine, executive director of TEACH.org, speaks to teachers at the 2016 Extra Yard for Teachers Summit about the teacher shortage in America.
Its focus is two things that are also key ingredients for successful college football programs: recruitment and retention. “Britton has a goal of getting qualified teachers in front of every student in the country, and he’s using the platform of college athletics to tell the story of this need,” said Nancy Zimpher, who has a seat at the Teacher Table as Chancellor Emeritus of the State University of New York and head of the RIG Center for Education Pipeline Systems Change. “Britton is driving something really transformative.” To get a better grasp on the issue, it helps to understand the depths of the problem.
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One example is the cratering rate of enrollment in teacher-preparation programs: From 725,518 in 2009-10 to 465,536 in four years. Those who enter don’t last long. Job dissatisfaction is high, a casualty not only of the lower-end salaries and benefits but also the lack of resources, autonomy and respect. Those who do enter the teaching profession then have to deal with the constant turnover. At least one in five jobs turns over every year at schools where 75 percent or more of students are impoverished. Districts predominated by students of color have higher rates of educators teaching subjects for which they’re not certified. Years of dwindling numbers of new teachers has caught up to us, Zimpher notes. Rather than emphasize the negative (the
INSPIRING: Former Arizona State Sun Devil and NFL star, Darren Woodson, talks about how his teacher taught him lessons that he carries with him today.
shortage), the CFP Foundation produced videos aimed at extolling the virtues of teaching. Perhaps you’ve seen some of them during the broadcast of a CFP game, while in a stadium or on social media. They include:
+ Former NFL and college
athletes Troy Aikman, Darren Woodson, Tim Brown and Russell Maryland talk about a teacher who changed their life as part of the “It Only Takes One” campaign.
+ The “Be Inspired. Inspire
Others. Teach.” campaign highlights teachers as everyday celebrities in a 1-minute video.
IMPACT: Big 12 Commissioner, Bob Bowlsby, supports the CFP Foundation’s convening of education leaders to address the teacher shortage issue.
“Our platform gives teachers access to media and to storytelling,” Banowsky said. “We set out to try to reposition the narrative around teaching as a profession. We want people who might not otherwise have
considered teaching to now think about going into it.” That includes student-athletes. Bowlsby pointed to how the Big 12 uses their “Champions for Life” program to enable studentathletes across multiple sports to give grants to teachers who made a difference in their life. “They get to go back to the classroom and say thanks to the teacher in addition to having the opportunity to inspire the kids who are in those classes today,” Bowlsby said. That’s an indirect nudge to point student-athletes toward becoming teachers. More direct efforts are in the works to connect athletic departments and education programs on campuses. “That’s the next phase we’re working on now,” Bowlsby said. “Not every kid is going to play in the NFL or do something in sports after college.” The Teacher Table concept was developed in partnership with
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the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), who represents the top education officials in each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the territories. “A teacher is the most important factor in a student’s success once they walk into school, yet across the country, too many schools are facing shortages of excellent teachers, especially schools in rural and remote communities and schools with large populations of low-income students or students of color,” says CCSSO Executive Director Carissa Moffat Miller. “Through the Teacher Table project, CCSSO and the CFP Foundation are supporting state leaders to bring teachers to the table with policymakers to build consensus and collective responsibility to find
50/50 split, in fact — in hopes of solving problems together. Working off the premise that you can’t solve a problem until you know exactly what it is, researchers A teacher is the most important will collect data around the factor in a student’s success question “What once they walk into school, yet is your biggest need?” — and will across the country, too many schools are facing shortages of do so on a stateby-state basis. excellent teachers, especially Then, of course, schools in rural and remote they’ll seek proven policies, practices communities and schools with and investments to large populations of low-income address it. students or students of color.” The coalition aims to have CARISSA MOFFAT MILLER collected data, crafted solutions ways to attract and keep teachers in and begun implementing them in the profession.” at least 20 states by 2025. The Teacher Table name reflects A pilot program began in South the fact that teachers have a seat Dakota. New York came next, at the table with policy makers — a providing details that resonated
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with Zimpher, seeing as she ran the state’s largest university system for most of the last decade. Among the biggest takeaways:
+ Salary is not the biggest
obstacle to retention; it’s independence. “They feel there’s a lack of respect for their knowledge,” Zimpher said.
+ Although New York has 733
school districts, all with jobs to fill, there’s no centralized system for posting openings or tracking patterns of teacher movement, a recording that could expose other issues.
Before the most recent CFP National Championship was played in Atlanta, the CFP Foundation held a meeting that included representatives from CCSSO, RIG and about a dozen more organizations, including the American Council on Education, the National Board for Professional
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Teaching Standards and the Education Trust, an advocacy group for disadvantaged students led by John King, former U.S. Secretary of Education. The brain trust recently met again via conference call for an update, with another call planned for October. Another in-person gathering is set for January in the Bay Area during the lead-in to the 2019 national championship game. “We’re one of many organizations pulling on this rope,” Banowsky said. “Without teachers — and without great teachers — public education is in trouble.” There’s an interesting parallel to be drawn between the efforts of the CFP and that of the CFP Foundation. Everyone who cared about college football spent decades seeking the best way to crown a champion. Trial and error led to the formation of the College Football Playoff. While refinement will always continue, the masses agree this is a strong, smart system. It’s too early to say whether the CFP Foundation will galvanize recruitment and retention of K-12 educators. But it certainly appears to be headed in the right direction. “To get a movement going — to get something done — people’s energy has to be channeled,” Zimpher said. “Somebody has to stimulate the partnership, the coming together. The CFP Foundation is using its energy to make education a major priority. Nothing could be more central to our future.”
JUNE HONOREE
JULIE MOELLER
“E
very single person has value,” says Julie Moeller, a teacher and high school placement director at DC Prep, a public charter middle school in Washington, D.C. Finding value in each individual is exactly what she does at DC Prep, where she guides the school’s 8th graders through the application process at some of most prestigious private schools in the nation. Eighty percent of DC Prep’s students live in poverty and are deemed at risk because they are homeless, in foster care, or their families are on welfare, and yet still more than seventy percent go on to study at selective public schools, magnet schools or private schools. Under Moeller’s tenure, DC Prep students have matriculated at an elite list of schools, including Sidwell Friends, St. Albans School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Choate Rosemary Hall. Moeller’s award is focused on her work with Calvin Carmichael, a DC Prep alum who attended and recently graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall, an elite boarding school in Connecticut that is a long way, physically and metaphorically, from Calvin’s home in one of Washington’s toughest neighborhoods. Julie, a former math teacher says she “loved working in high school placement from the start — particularly the opportunity to work with parents as well as students. All parents want what is best for their children and its rewarding to work with them to navigate their child’s future.” Visit www.honored.org to read Julie Moeller’s full story.
www.cfp-foundation.org
WHO DO WE APPRECIATE? TEACHERS!
The College Football Playoff Foundation donated more than $90,000 during Teacher Appreciation Week to fund classroom projects that equip and empower teachers across the country. BY DAVID LEE
T
eacher Appreciation Week takes place near the end of every school year to honor teachers and recognize how they go above and beyond normal duties. It brings together educators, students, parents and communities to show appreciation for the critical work and dedication teachers have for educating and shaping the future. This year, Teacher Appreciation Week took place May 7-11 and even caught national media attention. “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon thanked his former teachers and hosted New York teachers for a special Tonight Show filming. “It was an honor to celebrate #TeacherAppreciationDay with 200 NYC Public School teachers! Thank you for all the important work you do!” Fallon Tweeted. The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation celebrated the week by giving back to teachers in the previous and current CFP National Championship host communities: North Texas (Monday), Phoenix (Tuesday), Tampa (Wednesday), Atlanta (Thursday) and Bay Area, California (Friday) where the national championship game will take place in January 2019. In all communities but Atlanta, the CFP Foundation
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touched teachers by funding the live health and sports related projects on DonorsChoose.org, positively impacting thousands of students. In Atlanta, a joint donation of $20,000 from the CFP Foundation and ESPN was given to the Atlanta Public School system as a result of the tremendous participation from fans who interacted with the Playoff Fan Central bus activation during
the national championship game festivities. In all, more than $90,000 was donated by the CFP Foundation, impacting 16,000 students. “We are so grateful for the teachers in our country, and we are pleased to be able support them throughout the year,” says Britton Banowsky, CFP Foundation Executive Director. “Teacher Appreciation Week, however, is an
OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
amazing opportunity for the CFP Foundation to join so many others in expressing our deep appreciation for their commitment to the future of their students.” To help spread awareness and increase involvement, the CFP Foundation leveraged the #ExtraYardGives social media campaign. Hundreds of DonorsChoose.org projects were submitted on Facebook and Twitter by teachers, parents, students, friends and family. The campaign encouraged followers to post DonorsChoose.org project links along with a message thanking teachers. Over the course of the week, 14 projects from 14 states were funded and announced on the Extra Yard for Teachers Facebook (/CFPExtraYard) and Twitter (@CFPExtraYard) pages. “We randomly select and fund DonorsChoose.org projects that have been sent to us through this social media campaign,” says Ryan Allen Hall, Director of Community Relations for the College Football Playoff. “It’s an awesome way to not only garner attention for a wonderful week of acknowledgement; but to put tangible, needed supplies in teachers’ hands.” The campaign galvanizes big and small communities in several ways with education at the core. “No matter what large metropolitan city or small town we all travel to, the one thing that is common between all of them is education,” Hall adds. “We are blessed to have the platform of college football and the assistance of many great partners to support teachers across the country.”
SAVE THE DATE September 15 — 22, 2018
E
xtra Yard for Teachers Week is an eight-day period dedicated to celebrating teachers across the country. Over the past four years, the college football community has recognized educators at home games, donated funds to classroom projects, and supported the initiative on social media. We look forward to continuing the celebration in 2018!
Stay tuned for more information headed your way. @CFPExtraYard
#ExtraYardWeek
www.cfp-foundation.org
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