The first in a series of reports on Workforce Innovation Grants details efforts to build Wisconsin’s rural teacher pipeline.
As part of its work to develop an Economy for All, Wisconsin had the vision to tackle targeted workforce needs in a variety of areas, including transportation, education, health care, and housing, among others. The Workforce Innovation Grant (WIG) Program harnessed the power of creativity, regional collaboration, and innovative solutions for to longtime local workforce needs.
The grants encouraged development of leading-edge, long-term solutions enabling businesses and institutions to find ways to connect people to resources that meet communities’ needs, support businesses’ hiring goals, and help people find family-supporting careers more easily. Offered in partnership by WEDC and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the program awarded a total of $128 million to 27 projects.
A series of reports, published through the end of this year, will explore the details of the WIG projects—as well as those projects’ early results and lessons learned. In addition to transparently sharing how taxpayer funds are being used, the reports aim to offer insights to help others replicate the projects’ success.
The first report covers a pair of grant projects that aim to build Wisconsin’s rural teacher pipeline:
- The GROW Cooperative (covering districts in Wisconsin Heights, Lodi, Sauk Prairie, and Cambridge) created a “grow your own” teacher program, providing scholarship incentives to promising students to pursue careers in rural classrooms and enter their careers with less student loan debt.
- The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is creating lasting relationships with rural districts, introducing education students to the rural teaching experience, and supporting them as their careers take off. Program components include micro-immersion trips to rural classrooms for education students, rural teacher placements and scholarships, a nontraditional pathway to earning special education teaching credentials, a rural teacher support network for early-career teachers, and housing assistance for student teachers and social work interns in selected rural areas.
Future reports will cover projects in areas including workforce transportation, career pathways, barriers to entry, health services careers, rural entrepreneurship, child care, and workforce housing. Access the first report and learn more about the program.
