Learning and Teaching

2+2+2=More Teachers in Maryland




In what could be called the educational equivalent of a major league baseball team's scouting and farm club system, UMBC is helping a Maryland school system grow its own teacher talent.

A new partnership between UMBC, the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), and Montgomery College aims to recruit high-school students for teaching careers and provide them with a structured course of higher education, teacher training, and ultimately a teaching job in their home school system.

"Recruiting at Home: Students to Teachers" is a six-year program that will begin by recruiting high-school juniors and seniors in the county who express an interest in the teaching profession. After high-school graduation, those who've enrolled in the program will attend Montgomery College for two years and complete their final two years of study at UMBC, receiving a bachelor's degree as well as Maryland teacher certification. (The program is nicknamed "2+2+2" for the six-year commitment involved.) As part of its role in the partnership, UMBC will provide scholarships to the first class of students for their UMBC college years. This cooperative arrangement is the first of several teacher recruitment and development partnerships UMBC is planning with community colleges in the state.

The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the number of Montgomery County students who return to the county to teach; presently only about 25 percent of the teachers MCPS hires are alumni of the school system. And in boosting the numbers and quality of "homegrown" talent, the 2+2+2 program will go a long way toward easing the teacher shortage in Maryland.

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