West Texas Rural Education Partnership Summit

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The shortage of qualified teachers across West Texas represents a significant failure to provide for the economic future of rural communities. The West Texas Rural Education Partnership will prepare over 200 new teachers annually for rural schools in our region by creating inter-organizational systems consisting of 3 universities, 9 community colleges and 45 rural districts all focused on addressing teacher-talent needs of rural schools. Join us today!

A group photo of 2021 winter summit attendees outside the TTU dairy barn

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Goals

Align district, community college, and university organizations into a single system. Increase local talent seeking teacher certification.
Implement high-quality support for rural teacher candidates. Coach and train district-based site coordinators. Improve quality of candidate support in remote, rural districts. Increase retention of high-quality teachers in rural districts.
Represent “rural” in the curriculum. Include coursework about teaching in rural schools. Increase efficacy and value for teaching in rural schools.

How Can A District Partner With Texas Tech?

Sign a Memorandum of Understanding with TTU, outlining expectations for the district and program.
Plan candidate recruiting strategies and timetables to align with program start dates in July and/or August.
Arrange Site Coordinator position (District, Itinerate, or EPP). Site Coordinator must have a Master's Degree and serve as TTU adjunct faculty for the program.
Train Site Coordinators from May-June. District administrators and Site Coordinator implement the program with TTU.

For more information, contact: Shawn Mason, shamason@ttu.edu

Group Photo at the Dairy Barn