Higher-education consortium tells Senate Education committee Idaho is building teacher pipeline but retention, student needs strain classrooms

Representatives from the Idaho Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (IACTE) told the Senate Education Committee that Idaho's regionally accredited educator-preparation programs coordinate across campuses to increase the teacher pipeline, improve literacy instruction and support teacher retention, but said classrooms now require more mental-health and special-education supports.

Bridal Blevins, identified in the committee record as representing IACTE, described member institutions' work to prepare teachers, school leaders and pupil services staff, and listed shared tools and requirements such as a common assessment framework and state-level review and accreditation. Blevins said the coalition meets monthly and works with the Office of the State Board of Education and the Idaho Department of Education to align programs statewide.

IACTE members said they have expanded alternative pathways to certification, including master's-level and nontraditional programs, registered apprenticeship partnerships with the Idaho Department of Education and programs that help paraprofessionals and paraprofessionals-in-training become certified teachers. Dean Blevins told the committee, "we are not competitors" and described cross-institution collaboration on employer surveys, statewide assessments and shared professional learning tools.

Committee members pressed presenters on classroom challenges. Senator Ward Engelking asked about escalations in student behavior since the pandemic and the role of social media; presenters said students bring more trauma to classrooms and that teachers are often performing roles beyond instruction, including connecting students to food, transportation and translation. The presenters urged more counselors, school psychologists and special-education staff so teachers can focus on instruction.

Presenters emphasized retention as a distinct problem from teacher preparation. Sherry Disbuke, assistant dean at Boise State University, summarized research showing new teachers who receive structured induction and continuing support in their first years have higher retention rates than peers who do not. Dean Blevins and other presenters asked legislators to consider supports that help keep teachers in the profession after graduation.

On early literacy, Whitney Ward, a professor at Northwest Nazarene University and member of the Idaho Higher Education Literacy Partnership (I HELP), told the committee that Idaho is among a small group of states covering all components of early literacy instruction and ranked in the top five by the National Council on Teacher Quality for early literacy practices. The presenters cited I HELP as a statewide collaboration to align literacy preparation across institutions.

Special-education workload also drew attention. A representative from Lewis-Clark State College said special-education teachers face heavy requirements for individualized education programs (IEPs) and other duties, and that schools need synchronized interventions so services provided at school and at home reinforce each other.

The presenters invited legislators to visit educator-preparation programs and partner schools, described shared program tools (the Danielson framework and individualized professional learning plans), and urged lawmakers to consider investments in induction and retention programs, mental-health staffing, and supports targeted to rural placements. The committee took no formal action on these presentation items during the recorded meeting.

"We want to partner with you to improve Idaho education for all students," Dean Blevins said in closing, quoting Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."