In an effort to address the dearth of teachers in the rural schools districts across South Carolina, the University of South Carolina (UofSC) College of Education held discussions over the last few years with the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), a non-profit, around ways to address the crisis.
At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, around 700 teaching and service positions remained vacant within the state of South Carolina. Between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school year, 6,000 teachers did not return, according to the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA).
Beyond the vacancies, there is also a lack of education graduates across the Palmetto State. In 2019-2020, the number of South Carolina students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification eligibility dropped to 1,700 graduates, CERRA reported.
In 2020, UofSC and CTQ took action to fill teaching gaps through the establishment of the Carolina Collaborative for Alternative Preparation (CarolinaCAP).
“We are able to help these small school districts who don’t have a lot to offer in terms of proximity to shopping and housing and restaurants,” said Dr. Cindy Van Buren, assistant dean for professional partnerships at UofSC. “They are in very rural pockets of the state. We are able to help them hire some folks from their own community to teach in their schools.”
By partnering with 14 school districts across the state, CarolinaCAP allows bachelor’s degree graduates in education to start a position in the classroom while earning certification training. In addition to completing micro-credentials, candidates also earn six hours of graduate credits from UofSC.
Certification area offerings include middle level science, middle level math, secondary biology, secondary chemistry, secondary physics, secondary math, early childhood education and elementary education. This August, CarolinaCAP will also begin offering certification in special education.
