Cedar Falls, Iowa — A new program at the University of Northern Iowa could help ease the state’s teacher shortage by allowing paraeducators to become certified teachers without leaving their current jobs. All classes for the two-year program, called the Purple Pathway for Paraeducators, will be offered online outside of normal work hours. Colleen Mulholland, dean of the UNI College of Education, says more schools are looking within their own classrooms to develop new teachers.
Mulholland says paras have experience in the classroom that makes them good candidates to become new teachers.
Applications for the program will be accepted starting this week. Earlier this year, the state Department of Education announced a grant program to support schools that create apprenticeships for paraeducators to finish their teaching degrees.
