The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative

Teachers are critical to the success of students, and when school districts struggle to fill vacant positions with highly qualified teachers, student success suffers. To mitigate the problems that persist with ongoing teacher shortages, we are at a critical juncture that calls for strategies that su...

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Main Authors: Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad, Lisa Huffman, Sharla Snider
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Trends in Higher Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/4/2/27
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author Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad
Lisa Huffman
Sharla Snider
author_facet Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad
Lisa Huffman
Sharla Snider
author_sort Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad
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description Teachers are critical to the success of students, and when school districts struggle to fill vacant positions with highly qualified teachers, student success suffers. To mitigate the problems that persist with ongoing teacher shortages, we are at a critical juncture that calls for strategies that support districts in overcoming these shortfalls through reflective practice and inquiry in sustaining and scaling collaborative efforts through school and university partnerships. This paper discusses lessons learned during the first year of a ‘Grow-Your-Own’ collaborative partnership between a school district and a university educator preparation program. Reflections and lessons learned for continuous improvement are shared, related to student recruitment, enrollment, and retention.
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spelling doaj-art-77f7c5502d4942ad853fb84e4702a40a2025-08-20T03:27:22ZengMDPI AGTrends in Higher Education2813-43462025-06-01422710.3390/higheredu4020027The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own InitiativeMaria B. Peterson-Ahmad0Lisa Huffman1Sharla Snider2College of Professional Education, Texas Woman’s University, 304 Administration Drive, Denton, TX 76204, USACollege of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology (CECH), University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USACollege of Professional Education, Texas Woman’s University, 304 Administration Drive, Denton, TX 76204, USATeachers are critical to the success of students, and when school districts struggle to fill vacant positions with highly qualified teachers, student success suffers. To mitigate the problems that persist with ongoing teacher shortages, we are at a critical juncture that calls for strategies that support districts in overcoming these shortfalls through reflective practice and inquiry in sustaining and scaling collaborative efforts through school and university partnerships. This paper discusses lessons learned during the first year of a ‘Grow-Your-Own’ collaborative partnership between a school district and a university educator preparation program. Reflections and lessons learned for continuous improvement are shared, related to student recruitment, enrollment, and retention.https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/4/2/27collaborationcontinuous improvementeducator preparationGrow-Your-Own
spellingShingle Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad
Lisa Huffman
Sharla Snider
The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
Trends in Higher Education
collaboration
continuous improvement
educator preparation
Grow-Your-Own
title The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
title_full The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
title_fullStr The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
title_full_unstemmed The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
title_short The Collective Impact in ‘Creating’ a Teacher-Lessons Learned from Participation in a Grow-Your-Own Initiative
title_sort collective impact in creating a teacher lessons learned from participation in a grow your own initiative
topic collaboration
continuous improvement
educator preparation
Grow-Your-Own
url https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/4/2/27
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