Town Hall Recap: Apprenticeships for Tech and Teaching

On this Getting Smart Town Hall, we took a look at apprenticeship pathways and tried to answer some of the following questions: What does a modern apprenticeship system look like? How might we set up the necessary systems to create earn-and-learn opportunities in technology and teaching pathways? What policies and enabling conditions are paving the way for apprenticeships?

We were joined by Erin Mote from InnovateEDU and Maureen Tracey Mooney from the Department of Education who spoke about the growing national movement for teacher apprenticeships. Later, we were also joined by Ryan Craig, author of Apprentice Nation as well as Chip Linehan, of Building 21 and Launchpad who discussed tech pathways for secondary students. Our presenters shared great slides overviewing the critical and integrated apprenticeship work that is rolling out across the nation. 

As Ryan Craig said in his opening remarks: “And it’s not only a skills gap… we’re increasingly seeing something called an experience gap where jobs that used to be entry-level are asking for 3, 6, 12 months worth of experience.” Apprenticeships can help fill this gap with connected and intentional work-based learning experiences. 

National agreements and policies are helping to make these apprenticeship pathways more feasible, desirable and effective. New Guidelines established by AACTE National Center for Grow Your Own and Deans for Impact establish that apprentices must be paid at a rate based on a starting teacher salary which is at least equivalent to the pay rate for paraprofessionals. This is groundbreaking agreement from our partners in labor in Higher Ed and through school district partners.