An initiative of NCNSP, the non-traditional teacher education program is supported by the federal Transitions to Teaching grant program, which supports efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals and recent college graduates interested in earning a teaching license through an alternative route. NCNSP is one of 30 organizations nationwide awarded five-year grants from the U.S. Department of Education to train non-education graduates to teach in high-needs schools.

  

NCNSP STEP will focus on training teachers in innovative and effective instruction of subjects now considered critical for strong high school preparation -- science, technology, engineering and math -- STEM in shorthand. Candidates in the 15-month program will receive a year of on-the-job training at an innovative school supported by NCNSP, combined with NCNSP seminars and online coursework through WIDE World, a professional development program of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Initially, the teacher training programs will be conducted at the NCNSP-affiliated Learning Laboratory demonstration high schools: Caldwell Early College in Hudson; Cross Creek Early College in Fayetteville; Hillside New Tech High School in Durham; and the Wayne School of Engineering in Goldsboro.