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Butler launches teacher-led training program to help new educators

There are over 1,700 teaching openings across the state of Indiana, including almost 400 at IPS alone.

INDIANAPOLIS — With so many teacher openings and emergency permits, Butler University is launching a program to offer teachers support.

It is a teacher-led training to help equip newly hired educators succeed in the classroom. The program offers basic insight on lesson planning, classroom management, developmental theory and assessment from long-time teachers across the state.

The training takes about 6 to 8 hours to complete and can be put into practice immediately.

"If you get hired on a Friday, first of all, thank you for coming, you can spend the weekend doing that foundational module and have concrete actionable steps for Monday," said Shelly Furuness, a professor in Butler University's College of Education.

Teachers or school districts can sign up for the subscription and, within minutes, will be able to access the training.

"We're proud that this is something borne out of teacher leadership, because they're talented and hard-working and we want to do everything we can to support them," Furuness said.

The program aims to launch at the end of the month. Plans start at $9,900. Teachers and school districts who would like more information can email Liz Jackson at enjackso@butler.edu or call 317-940-9315.

Teacher shortage

The state's shortage of teachers is still plaguing classrooms across the state as children head back to school.

How bad is the problem? 13News crunched the numbers from the Indiana Department of Education and found more than 1,700 teacher openings statewide.

Marion County is one of the hardest-hit areas. Indianapolis Public Schools has almost 400 openings and teacher openings at surrounding districts are also adding up.

Credit: WTHR
A graphic showing the number of teaching openings at Marion County school districts as of Aug. 11, 2022.

As of Aug. 11, here are the opening teaching positions in the state, as well as IPS and township districts around Marion County: 

  • 1741 Statewide
  • 384 IPS
  • 9 MSD Pike Township
  • 9 MSD Lawrence Township
  • 19 MSD Decatur Township
  • 15 MSD Warren Township
  • 1 MSD Wayne Township
  • 37 MSD Washington Township
  • 15 Franklin Township
  • 11 Perry Township

To help with the shortage, Indiana is issuing emergency permits for teachers and substitutes. Last school year alone, almost 18,000 of the special permits were given out across the state.

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