Denver-based nonprofit expands teacher pipeline and retention rates

Teacher retention is a pain point many school districts nationwide are dealing with right now. A Denver-based nonprofit has coined a new way to help keep teachers in classroom for the long run.

The Public Education and Business Coalition has expanded its alternative licensure program by contracting new teachers to stay in their district for at least three years.

PEBC told CBS News Colorado all you need is a bachelor's degree and desire to teach to join the program. Teachers start in a teacher residency program which goes for one year. During that year participants are provided with resources and mentorship. At the end of that year, participants can obtain their teachers license and work in any public or private school in Colorado. 

PEBC has coned a "pay for success" model where districts pay about one-third of the amount it costs to place teachers in classrooms up front. If the resident completes the three-year commitment, a year of training plus two years teaching in a classroom the district will make another payment. If the resident leaves before completing three years – the district pays nothing. The Senior Director of Residency Jessamyn Lockhart told us this model has been extremely successful.

"We in Colorado are facing a really critical teacher shortage. Its very acute in our rural areas where PEBC works with the cohorts around the state. On our side we see the retention rate of our teacher residents staying in the field at about 80-85% over five years compared to the national average of about 50%," said Lockhart.

PEBC says they focus on its teacher's mental health and well-being by providing both pre- and post-residency support beyond the first year of their residency. They also provide individual support and mentorship for the teachers. PEBC CEO and President Sue Sava says its important PEBC's teachers feel supported.

"In all other industries you pay a lot of attention to retaining professionals once you've invested highly in them and we believe in training teachers similarly to the medical model. That leads to higher retention rates. Everyone needs to care about teacher retention because there is no workforce without the educators who came first"

PEBC says they are pushing to retain teachers both in the stem field and teachers of color.

Applications for this program are open. To learn more or apply click here.