In an education class on campus, students listen as they are told to imagine a school where a teacher might teach a class in the morning, consult a club in the afternoon and coach a team after school. A place where the teacher’s name is not just known by the students but also by the parents and community. This is a rural school district.
The state of Colorado has been facing an ongoing teacher shortage in the last few years, one that has been growing since 2020. In the 2023-2024 school year, 9.18% of teaching positions statewide went unfilled for the whole school year. The schools with the biggest shortage were small rural schools.
To fill the gap, the University of Northern Colorado and the Colorado Center for Rural Education (CCRE) are building networks, programs and financial incentives to keep teachers in Colorado and rural schools…