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Achieve Miami’s Teacher Accelerator Program (TAP) is tackling South Florida’s teacher shortage head-on by creating a clear path to teaching for college seniors and career changers.
Following its first year at the University of Miami in 2023, the education nonprofit expanded to Florida International University and Miami-Dade College making TAP accessible to college seniors and graduates with a four-year degree.
Now in its second year, TAP has more than tripled its impact: 151 participants have successfully graduated from this year’s program and are preparing to teach in public, private, and charter school classrooms across Miami-Dade County as full-time teachers for the 2024-25 school year – up from 43 participants during its first year.
“While Miami students are performing better than their peers in other major cities, learning gaps exist and the teacher shortage is exacerbating the problem,” said Leslie Miller Saiontz, founder of Achieve Miami. “A strong education system is critical to ensuring the viability of South Florida’s economy over the long-term, and that begins with building a robust pipeline of teachers.
“TAP will be the single largest source of new teachers in Miami-Dade County this school year, and we’re eager to scale up our program in Florida and beyond,” Miller Saiontz added.
TAP is addressing a teacher shortage that is impacting communities in Florida and beyond.
On the first day of school for the 2023-24 school year, there were more than 5,000 vacant teaching positions in Florida, and hundreds of thousands across the U.S. according to Florida Education Association’s (FEA) count of vacancies.
Becoming a teacher through TAP is achievable in four attainable steps: participants take TAP’s one-semester course, followed by a six-week paid summer internship, earn their teaching certification, and are then hired by a Miami-Dade County public, private or charter school and placed in a classroom. This approach ensures that new teachers are well-prepared to make an immediate impact in the classroom. The streamlined process offers a clear path to becoming a teacher, opening the eyes of many to the benefits of a career in education.
“South Florida is full of talent, both at our local colleges and across the workforce, and we find that many qualified individuals are excited about a flexible and fulfilling career in education,” said Jasmine Calin-Micek, senior director of the Teacher Accelerator Program.
“TAP’s success in Miami is proving that when you offer an onramp to teaching, there’s no shortage of demand.”
TAP is the first initiative of its kind in Florida, and Achieve Miami is currently in discussions with other universities interested in expanding the program nationally. The launch of TAP is entirely privately funded through funds raised by Achieve Miami, including a portion of the more than $2.6 million contributed by nearly 500 donors during the Miami Foundation’s 2023 Give Miami Day.
To learn more about the Teacher Accelerator Program, or to take the first step towards a fulfilling career in education, visit www.teacheraccelerator.org.
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