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BALTIMORE, Md. – The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) has awarded a $88,754 grant to º£½ÇÉçÇø (NDMU) to increase educator diversity by recruiting displaced federal workers for NDMU’s accelerated 18-month teacher certification program.

Yesterday, Governor Wes Moore  during a roundtable discussion between higher education leaders and displaced federal workers.

NDMU’s Advancing Diversity and Alternative Pathways in Preparing Teachers program (ADAPPT) will create pathways for career changers and educators with a conditional license to become fully certified to teach in Maryland. The ADAPPT program will help NDMU’s School of Education meet the state’s goals of strengthening the teacher workforce through the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. NDMU’s ADAPPT program will also improve student success by leveraging the University’s existing educator preparation programs for conditionally licensed teachers and career changers with a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, the program will focus on increasing the diversity of teacher candidates, especially those preparing to become high school educators.

NDMU will recruit multiple cohorts of up to 15 conditionally licensed educators and career changers with bachelor’s degrees into its Accelerated Certification in Teaching Program. NDMU will support the students with academic assistance, discounted tuition and fees, and tutoring for the Praxis teacher license examination. NDMU will engage its current educator preparation partnerships with the Montgomery County Public Schools, Prince George’s Public County Schools, and Baltimore County Public Schools, as well as the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington.

The estimates that there are more than 1,600 teacher vacancies in the state, and more than 6,500 conditionally licensed teachers need full certification. NDMU’s School of Education is the state’s fourth largest producer of certified teachers, as well as the state’s largest private institution provider. NDMU’s education programs are nationally accredited through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.

MHEC’s Maryland Teacher Quality and Diversity Program, which awarded the funding to NDMU, provides competitive grants to colleges and universities to increase the number of students from historically underrepresented groups who become certified educators.

Established in 1895, º£½ÇÉçÇø (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. º£½ÇÉçÇø has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.