Guadalupe Rodriguez works with 4-year-olds at Morgandale School as a paraprofessional. Her class is a mix of youngsters, some of whom have special needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love working with kids with special needs,\u201d she says. \u201cOver the summer I worked with kids with autism, and that led me to working in a school setting with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez had thought of going back to school to become a certified teacher, but couldn\u2019t really afford to quit her job to do that.<\/p>\n
Now a new effort, the PLUS program, is helping her and other paraprofessionals in Milwaukee Public Schools work toward becoming certified teachers while continuing to work.<\/p>\n
The new collaborative program involving the M\u00b3 (M-cubed) partners \u2013 MPS, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Area Technical College \u2013 is helping the motivated classroom helpers like Rodriguez prepare to lead their own classrooms. The PLUS (Professional Licensure with Undergraduate Support) program was developed by Judith Winn, an associate professor at 51ÁÔÆæ, now retired; Adria Maddaleni, operations manager, MPS Office of School Administrators; and Jennifer Mikulay, associate dean,\u00a0MATC School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and director of the Center for Engaged and Service Learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought there was an untapped group in MPS of paraprofessionals who don\u2019t have college degrees,\u201d said Winn. \u201cPeople who have the skills and the desire but haven\u2019t been able to go back to college and get a degree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Principals nominate the paraprofessionals for the program \u2013 Rodriguez was nominated by her former principal, Brenda Martinez, at ALBA (Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes) School.\u00a0 Once nominated and accepted, the PLUS students are able to complete their pre-professional courses at MATC, moving to 51ÁÔÆæ for the professional coursework and to earn special education teacher certification. They will be able to continue working as paraprofessionals, doing their student teaching on-the-job by gradually assuming more planning and teaching responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Each paraprofessional will be mentored by a strong lead teacher in their school.<\/p>\n
Mary Stone, PLUS program coordinator, describes a meeting with a woman talking with emotion about her desire to become a teacher.\u00a0 \u201cShe said, \u2018I wanted to be a teacher for so long, and I just couldn\u2019t find a way to do this. This is the way I\u2019m going to be able to make this dream a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge for many paraprofessionals, like Rodriguez, is not just finding money for tuition, but also the fact that they can\u2019t afford to quit working to go to college.<\/p>\n
Aspiring teachers receive some financial support for tuition through a U.S. Department of Education grant received by 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Kristen Taylor and Donna Pasternak to help provide a pipeline of prepared teachers experienced in culturally relevant practices.The Tuition Assistance program through MPS also helps. However, the cost of completing degrees goes beyond what the project provides now, and the partners will be approaching local philanthropists for additional financial support, according to Winn.<\/p>\n
The initial program is set up for special education teachers, but the hope is that it will eventually be expanded to recruit and prepare teachers for other areas, such as bilingual education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe special education paraprofessionals are so excited about this,\u201d Stone said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is a group of nontraditional students who are already skilled and very passionate about working in special education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students are at MATC now, with the hope the numbers will grow to 23 or 24 by fall. At least two students are getting ready to transfer from MPS to 51ÁÔÆæ, and the program is planning to recruit the next group.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez completed her second semester at MATC in May. One of the reasons she likes the PLUS program is that her college teachers work with the paraprofessionals to schedule classes around their work hours. She is bilingual and her eventual goal is to become certified in both bilingual education and special education for early childhood.<\/p>\n
She plans to stay in MPS. \u201cI think it\u2019s best for us to stay within our community to help others because it\u2019s a community in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis (the PLUS program) is one of the strongest collaborations I\u2019ve been involved in,\u201d said Winn. \u201cIt\u2019s been a delight to work on this project. What we\u2019re seeing is a huge desire for this type of program. It\u2019s so wonderful to be able to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For some people already working with children in MPS schools, the PLUS program involving the school district, 51ÁÔÆæ and MATC is helping them become fully certified teachers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":60618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249],"section":[246,259],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[334,207],"uwmnews-feed":[347,148],"class_list":["post-60617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","section-business-world-affairs","section-education","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-m-cubed","related-coverage-teaching","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-education"],"yoast_head":"\n