HIDOE School Partnerships
Building a high-quality, committed, and diverse pipeline for Hawaii Schools
Project Equal Access is prepared to partner with HIDOE schools to support the development and implementation of projects and initiatives that build experiences and opportunities for secondary students to explore the teaching profession and gain experiences related to working and collaborating with students with disabilities. We aim to recruit and build more teachers across the entire state, including our rural and remote communities, where special education teacher shortages are often most prevalent. The goal of this project is to develop and diversify the teacher workforce pipeline by creating a pipeline of teachers from our local schools.
Visiting with High Schools Across the State
Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, the COE Recruitment Specialist was able to visit the following schools to share about the teaching profession with students and learn more about their CTE pathways and courses being offered:
- Waipahu H.S.
- Pearl City H.S.
- Mililani H.S.
- Farrington H.S.
- Waiakea H.S.
- Molokai H.S.
40 Hours of Group Leadership - Certificate of Completion
The College of Education at UH Mānoa offers a variety of State Approved Teacher Education Program (SATEP) degree and certificate pathways to support students interested in becoming licensed teachers in Hawai‘i. As an application requirement, the COE has a 40 hour of Group Leadership Form that prospective students must complete. The goal of this application requirement is to ensure that applicants have had the opportunity to work with groups of school-aged students prior to committing to their SATEP licensure program. Group leadership opportunities can be paid or unpaid experiences. One-to-one experiences with children, such as tutoring or babysitting, do not count towards this requirement.
Some examples of common group leadership field experiences include:
- Volunteering in a K-12 classroom (more than just observing)
- Summer fun, camp counselor, or after school program employment
- Sports, swimming, or other athletic activities and coaching
- Teaching for the arts (e.g., music, art, theater, dance lessons)
- Volunteering with non profit organizations (e.g., Easter Seals, Special Olympics)
- Church group activities with children
- Employment in HIDOE schools
Certificate Development
Given the expansion of CTE pathways in high schools across Hawai‘i, the College of Education would like to recognize and honor students who have completed 40 hours or more of work-based learning experiences with groups of school-aged students as part of their CTE education pathway and/or courses. If developed, this certificate would be accepted in meeting the 40 hours Group Leadership Experience requirement as part of the COE application. We hope this certificate also helps to recognize and celebrate the time and effort these aspiring teachers put into their teaching practice during high school, in addition to streamlining and minimizing barriers to entering UH Mānoa’s College of Education programs.
If interested in providing this type of certificate opportunity for your students, please complete this interest and approval form.
Once developed, CTE teacher education pathway leads could complete this verification form to submit the names of qualified students and the COE would then provide a certificate of completion that has been signed by the Dean of the College of Education.