Let’s talk about solutions to the teacher shortage problem

Alaska leans on mentors to help teachers stick with it. Plus: A high schooler wants to use AI to detect suicide risk. [View this email online]( [NPR Education]( May 21, 2023 This week, we visit a remote Alaskan classroom and talk to a high schooler who has his mind on mental health. Plus: Updated guidance on prayer in schools. --------------------------------------------------------------- Aerial view of Chevak, a remote village in the Yukon River delta region in western Alaska. Earl Atchak/KYUK Happy Sunday! Cory Turner here, and I’ve got a real treat for you today. But first, a confession: I don’t know about you, but increasingly, when I read or listen to the news, I feel exhausted by the awfulness. That includes relentlessly dire warnings in the media over the last year or two about teacher shortages. Make no mistake, these shortages are real in many places – and a crisis. But when my editor, Steve, suggested I weigh in, I told him, “Only if I can highlight solutions.” “Deal,” he said. In March, I reported [a pair of stories from Jackson, Miss.]( where the school district is paying for unlicensed classroom aides to go back to school and get their master’s degrees. In April, I told [the story of a remarkable idea]( A new high school in San Antonio dedicated entirely to training high-schoolers in the art and science of good teaching. Finally, this week, I’m sharing a story I started reporting late last year, about the confluence of two really important threads in the teacher shortage narrative: 1) Rural districts are often hit hard by shortages and struggle to recruit new teachers. 2) One of the best things districts can do to hold onto rookie teachers is to support them with high-quality mentoring. I mean, there’s an entire body of research out there that shows good mentoring can not only improve new teachers’ job satisfaction and make them more likely to stay – it can also make them better teachers which, in turn, improves student achievement. My goal was to find a mentor and a teacher whose relationship vividly captures both the need for and the power of good mentoring. I found it in Ed Sotelo and Amelia Tulim. Once a month, teacher mentor Ed Sotelo takes three planes to get to Amelia Tulim's classroom in Chevak. LA Johnson/NPR Amelia is a first-year, first-grade teacher in Chevak, Alaska – a Cup’ik community near the Bering Sea where snowmobiles far outnumber cars. And Ed is a 70-year-old veteran teacher who, as her mentor, takes three planes each month to get to Amelia’s classroom, helping her navigate a whole host of issues, from lesson-planning and grading, to encouraging her to work the Cup’ik culture she shares with her students into her everyday teaching. You can [read the story here]( but, if you have the time, I’d love it if you gave it a listen instead. You can hear the passion and playfulness in Amelia’s voice – and hear Ed tell the story of his harrowing first flight to his very first teaching job in Alaska, back in 1984. Our team’s producer, Lauren Migaki, is an audio dreamweaver, and she really helped make this story come alive. Thanks for listening/reading, we appreciate you! Stay hopeful, — [Cory Turner]( Correspondent, NPR Ed [Read More]( Kaitlin Brito for NPR Text messages, Instagram posts and TikTok profiles. Parents often caution their kids against sharing too much information online, weary about how all that data gets used. But one Texas high school senior wants to use that digital footprint to save lives. Eighteen-year-old Siddhu Pachipala created an app using artificial intelligence that [may someday help detect suicide risk](. — Abē Levine, Freelance Education Reporter and former NPR intern If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the [988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline]( by calling or texting 9-8-8, or the [Crisis Text Line]( by texting HOME to 741741. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Now, let’s get into some news … The U.S. Department of Education has issued [updated guidance]( on prayer and other religious expressions in public schools. The new guidance says, "Teachers, school administrators, and other school employees may not encourage or discourage private prayer or other religious activity." [Read the whole story]( for all the nuance. — [Jason DeRose]( Religion Correspondent, NPR And in the continuing Florida education saga … A Florida teacher [is under investigation]( by the state's Department of Education after she showed her students a Disney movie that features a gay character. The movie may violate Florida's "Parental Bill of Rights," a law which critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay." — [Joe Hernandez]( Newsdesk Reporter, NPR And now, for a moment of joy … NPR Ed’s own [Janet Lee]( who runs the Student Podcast Challenge, [is featured in a new episode of Life Kit]( this week on how to make friends anywhere you move. "Friendships are often out of our control, especially when new to a place," Lee writes. "But sometimes, we're met with magical moments where we find connections that grow over time." — [LA Johnson]( Art Director, NPR --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. 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