WSU Program Elevates Teaching Assistants to Help with Teacher Shortage
OGDEN, Utah –Weber State University offers a unique program that provides paraeducators, also known as teacher assistants, financial support and mentoring to become fully licensed teachers.
WSU’s Teacher Assistant Pathway to Teaching (TAPT) is funded by the Utah State Board of Education and numerous private donors and businesses. One long-standing TAPT donor, Key Bank, will award $10,000 for scholarships to three TAPT students Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. in WSU’s Hurst Center Dumke Legacy Hall.
The Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education developed TAPT to give paraeducators opportunities to return to school to earn their teaching licenses. Applicants must be working in the districts as paid teacher assistants and have the desire and commitment to become fully licensed teachers. TAPT participants receive $4,000 a year for tuition.
Before being accepted to TAPT, Katrina Pearce worked at a junior high as a behavior unit paraprofessional. She was slowly earning her general education credits one class at a time. Now Pearce is a full-time student studying special education.
“The program has provided me with the funds to study full time,” Pearce said. “TAPT has kept me from quitting. Without the program, I would still be going through school one class at a time, if at all.”
Chad Carpenter learned about TAPT while working as a reading tutor at Gramercy Elementary in Ogden. He decided to apply to the program and graduated from Weber State in 2003 in elementary education. Since graduating, Carpenter has worked as an elementary school teacher and then as an administrator in both the Ogden and Granite school districts. He currently serves as the Ogden School District assistant superintendent.
“The TAPT program means a great deal to me,” Carpenter said. “It afforded me a tremendous start to an educational career focused on students and teachers from diverse backgrounds. I was able to connect with key professors, local school administrators, teachers and fellow education students who have remained longtime friends and professional colleagues.”
The TAPT program was created in the 1995-96 academic year at the request of superintendents from six school districts surrounding Weber State. Since its inception, 167 TAPT students have graduated and certified as teachers; 96 percent are still teaching. Currently, 45 students are enrolled in TAPT, and half of them are special education majors.
In addition to money for tuition, TAPT offers students academic and emotional support.
“TAPT is much more than just a scholarship,” said Shirley Dawson, TAPT program director. “Participants meet together monthly where they receive academic support. New participants receive mentoring from experienced participants. TAPT students value the emotional and personal support they receive from others in the program.”
To apply to the program, applicants must fill out a TAPT application and submit two letters of recommendation. New applicants are added to the program each year as funding is available.
Visit weber.edu/coe/tapt for more information about Weber State’s Teacher Assistant Pathway to Teaching.
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
Ross Rosier, Office of Marketing & Communications
801-626-7948 • rossrosier@weber.edu- Contact:
Shirley Dawson, TAPT program director
801-626-7853 • shirleydawson@weber.edu