CARSONCITY, Nev. – The NevadaDepartment of Education (NDE or Department) today announced the “IncentivizingPathways to Teaching” Grant Program (IPT Grant Program), which will growNevada’s educator workforce by providing stipends to support pre-serviceeducators as they complete coursework or student teaching at a Nevada System ofHigher Education (NSHE) institution or other approved educator preparationprogram.

The IPTGrant Program provides financial supports to ensure qualified educator candidatescomplete their educator preparation programs. Too often, educator candidatesare unable to complete their programs and graduate licensure-ready due to thefinancial hardship of giving up part-time work to accommodate a studentteaching schedule. With the IPT Grant Program, NDE seeks to address this issue andprovide additional resources to bolster Nevada’s educator pipeline.

“The singlemost important in-school factor affecting a student’s education is theirteacher, and it is a key priority of the Department to grow our State’seducator workforce with effective and diverse educators,” said Jhone Ebert,State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “NDE’s Incentivizing Pathwaysto Teaching project prioritizes equitable access to qualified teacher candidatesby removing financial constraints, directly supporting many Nevadans on their journeyto become educators. I extend my gratitude to Governor Sisolak and the NevadaLegislature for recognizing and supporting this need, as well as to NSHE fortheir ongoing collaboration and partnership.”  

“Myadministration is continuing to focus on investing in our educators to help ourstudents achieve at higher levels, and this program is one more way we cancontinue to support our hardworking educators," said Nevada GovernorSteve Sisolak. "I am excited to see this program get off the groundand I am grateful to the Nevada Department of Education for their work on thisproject.”

Through theIPT Grant Program, support will be provided to pre-service educators as either stipendsfor student teaching or tuition assistance for educator preparation programs. Studentsmay receive up to $2,000 for tuition assistance at any time during the finalthree semesters of their program, and up to $8,400 in stipends during theirstudent teaching semester. If accepted, each candidate who receives these fundsmust obtain a Nevada standard teaching license and seek employment in a publicschool in the State of Nevada. Priority will be given to candidates who havefinancial need and/or identify as a person of color.

“Theimportance of collaborating between our K-12 and higher education organizationscannot be overstated in growing a sustainable educator workforce for Nevada,” saidNevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Melody Rose. “I am gratefulfor the work we have been able to accomplish with the Nevada Department ofEducation and Superintendent Ebert, and I am thrilled at the impact this grantprogram will have on our students. Everyone enrolled in an educator preparationprogram at one of Nevada’s higher education institutions should take advantageof this opportunity.”

The NevadaDepartment of Education has teamed up with the Nevada System of HigherEducation (NSHE) to address Nevada’s teacher pipeline and expand the number anddiversity of licensure-ready teachers in the State. Both the NSHE Teacher Pathways Task Force, launched in April 2021, and the IPTGrant Program are products of this ongoing collaborative work.

The IPTGrant Program was approved in spring 2021 by the Interim Finance of the NevadaLegislature. The Program launched in fall 2021 and will run for two calendaryears, until the end of spring 2023. The fall 2021 cohort of pre-serviceeducators included stipends for 265 teachers during their student teaching, andtuition assistance for 764 teachers.

NDEanticipates the IPT Grant Program will support 2,000 pre-service teachers withstudent teaching stipends and 1,840 teachers with education preparation programtuition assistance throughout its lifetime. In total, the Program has thepotential to support 3,840 pre-service Nevada educators for Nevada.

Nevadareceived more than $1.5 billion in federal relief funding for education, translating to Statewide projects andprograms aligned with NDE’s four strategic investments to recover and reneweducation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Those strategic investments are: TeacherRecruitment and Retention; Advancing Equity; Social-Emotional Learning andMental Health; Efficiencies for Long-term Success.

In March2021, the Nevada Department of Education released a Report on Nevada Class Sizes andEducator Workforce,which indicated that Nevada needed an additional 3,000 teachers to improve coreclass sizes to the ratios recommended by the State Board of Education. Due toNevada’s need to grow its number of licensed educators, NDE prioritized $20.7million in federal relief funding from Elementary and Secondary SchoolEmergency Relief Fund (ESSER II) out of the Coronavirus Response and ReliefSupplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) for the IPT Grant Program whichrepresents approximately 43% of all CRRSA funds available to NDE for Statewideactivities. Other work to support the educator pipeline includes the NSHE Teacher Pathways Task Force and the Teacher Recruitment and RetentionAdvisory Task Force establishedby the Legislature.

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ABOUT THE NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) leads and collaborates withNevada’s 17 school districts and the State Public Charter School Authority toadvance educational equity Statewide. With offices in Carson City and LasVegas, NDE oversees all pre-K-12 education in the State, working to achieve itsmission to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness by ensuringopportunities, facilitating learning, and promoting excellence. Under theleadership of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of PublicInstruction, NDE impacts the achievement of nearly half a million children and30,000 educators.