Kelly Meadows, assistant state superintendent for educator effectiveness at the Maryland State Department of Education, told the Professional Sanders Teacher Education Board that MSDE has launched a set of statewide recruitment tools aimed at expanding and diversifying the teacher workforce. The package includes a public Maryland Educator Workforce Dashboard (published December 2024) that allows users to drill down to district and school levels, a newly approved sole-source partnership with Teach.org to provide national recruitment and one-to-one candidate outreach, and targeted grant programs for relocation and grow-your-own pathways.

Meadows said the recruitment dashboard is public and will be refreshed annually in early spring after the agency finalizes staffing data. "This dashboard was built to drill down to the school level," she said, noting guardrails for data suppression where small-cell privacy requires it. The tool is intended for local education agencies and educator-preparation programs, and MSDE will post a link on its website.

On the outreach front, MSDE received Board of Public Works approval for a sole-source contract with Teach.org, a national nonprofit that provides mentoring, advertising and direct candidate outreach. "We have our kickoff meeting next week," Meadows said, describing the vendor's services as including mentoring and public service announcements to boost candidate pipelines.

Meadows detailed two grant programs. First, the relocation incentive—created in 2025 legislation and tied to the governor's education package—offers up to $2,000 to eligible out-of-state licensed professionals who move to Maryland and commit to work two years in the recruiting district. "We were given $1,000,000 for this fiscal year. We've already encumbered over $800,000," Meadows said, adding that applicants must hold an unencumbered out-of-state professional license and accept positions in community schools.

Second, the Grow Your Own Grant opened its application window and carries $19,400,000 in funding. The program is designed to help current education support professionals, conditionally licensed teachers and other local candidates complete degrees and licensure pathways; grants may fund programs up to four years. "We anticipate grantees will have programs that can last up to four years," Meadows said. MSDE plans technical-assistance sessions for superintendents, HR directors and potential university partners and will prioritize applications that include registered teacher apprenticeships and pathways that lead to licensure.

Members raised implementation questions during the meeting. Board members asked whether nonpublic special-education schools count in dashboard reporting; Meadows said statute requires reporting for county boards, so nonpublic schools are not included. On reciprocity and supports for out-of-state recruits, Meadows pointed to MSDE's licensure office and a recently published conditional-licensure toolkit, and she said MSDE could provide targeted videos and partner sessions for relocated teachers. On Grow Your Own program timing and cost per participant, Meadows said technical assistance and an information guide will spell out collaborative expectations for districts and IHEs.

The board asked MSDE to circulate links and follow-up materials; Meadows said she would share the dashboard and grant guidance through the agency's webpage and follow up with specific resources. The board also noted coordination with the State Board of Education, which is concurrently publishing several COMAR items on related work.

The board formally approved the previous meeting minutes earlier in the session. The recruitment package is now the subject of technical-assistance sessions and grant competitions that MSDE said will run into early 2026.