The College of Education at the University of South Alabama and the Mobile County Public School System, MCPSS, are collaborating to recruit potential teachers in special education through Project Cruise, a new program to help improve the significant teacher shortage and retain highly qualified teachers in the local school system. Currently, USA is seeking new applicants and will have a total of 30 slots a year available in the program.

Project Cruise gives any graduate with a four-year non-education degree the opportunity to become a special education teacher. It is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The program’s primary purpose is to recruit and retain potential teachers by providing them with training and mentor support. The prospective special education teachers will begin teaching immediately and spend two years as Project Cruise participants. The participants must commit to teaching special education in the Mobile County Public School System for three years.

“Project Cruise is also designed to help prospective K-12 special education teachers complete their first year of teaching with professional teachers serving as mentors, said the project’s principal investigator Dr. David Ellis, professor in the department of leadership and teacher education at USA. “Most importantly, we want to retain them in the profession.”

Participants in Project Cruise will receive a $1,000 stipend each semester to help with expenses while they are pursuing their master’s degrees. They also will each receive $500 annually for professional development.

“We want members of Project Cruise to have all the benefits of a professional teacher,” said Ellis. “We want the participants to understand that this is more than a job, it’s a profession.”

Project Cruise Mentor Training Coordinator Dr. Marilyn McGowan, assistant professor in leadership and teacher education at USA, has designed the mentor training program, which is important to the success of Project Cruise.

“In the past, non-educators interested in receiving their master’s degrees in special education have not had the support at this level,” explained McGowan. “The mentoring program and the field experiences are critical components for the success of Project Cruise.”

McGowan said the program is taking senior teachers in the public school system and giving them the skills to support entry-level teachers.

“The mentoring effort is research driven,” said McGowan. “There’s a scientific process to providing a successful mentoring program. Our goal is to make sure that the senior teacher is prepared to work with the entry-level teacher. We are building relationships that will provide a better educational experience for the teachers and school children.”

McGowan said she, along with an advisory group, will evaluate the effectiveness of Project Cruise.

“We have procedures in place to measure the outcomes of this program,” noted McGowan. “We will be looking at things such as the retention rate, training, the USA/MCPSS partnership, and project operations.”

Dr. Abigail Baxter, associate professor in leadership and teacher education at USA, co-authored the four-year grant with Ellis and is currently teaching Project Cruise participants.

“We are providing a solid foundation of classroom instruction and supervised professional training,” said Baxter. “We have also decreased the number of hours required to complete the program from a minimum of 54 semester hours to a minimum of 42 semester hours. The program now is more balanced with each class relating to their daily professional experiences.”

Dr. John Sachs, associate professor in leadership and teacher education at USA, also the University’s College of Education field coordinator, works closely with Dr. Sheila Martin, executive director of special education for MCPSS.

“I’m serving as the liaison between the college and the public school system,” said Sachs. “This is an amazing opportunity to collaborate with the Mobile County Public School System. I’m pleased with the service that we are providing through Project Cruise.”

Once the students meet the criteria for Project Cruise, Sachs said they will attend an orientation and information session prior to beginning the program.

According to Sachs, once the program participants are ready for their classroom placement, Martin assigns them to a school where they will work with a mentor and resource teacher.

“We are in a desperate need for special education teachers in the Mobile County Public School System,” said Martin. “This is a wonderful program, and I’m pleased that we are providing a real-work experience for the participants. They will better understand the curriculum and other important plans and assessments because of this joint collaboration.”

USA’s Project Cruise is expected to add approximately 100 new special education teachers to the MCPSS over four years.

For more information about this program, visit http://projectcruise.southalabama.edu