¡Adelante! A Project to Propel WPU’s Hispanic Servingness and Diversify the K12 Teaching Workforce
Warner Pacific University secured a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase and retain well-prepared teachers from diverse backgrounds. The grant aims to increase the number of certified bilingual teachers and Special Education teachers in Oregon. President Dr. Brian Johnson noted that the grant will help WPU “further our vision to support diverse teachers that represent students in the communities they serve.”
The overarching goal of the grant is to prepare students for teaching careers in high-need, hard-to-staff fields in Special Education and dual language/bilingual education. The grant will address this larger goal through a multi-faceted approach that includes:
- Creating a new, flexible, and affordable bachelor’s degree with licensure and special education endorsement.
- Developing a new ESOL endorsement.
- Facilitating bilingual and emerging bilingual students in the attainment of the Oregon State Seal of Biliteracy.
- Creating a supportive ecosystem that reduces barriers to access, retention, completion, and successful in-field employment.
- Mentoring graduating new teachers as they begin their teaching careers.
- Strengthening partnerships with community colleges and Portland Public Schools to strengthen the education-to-career teacher pathway.
Warner Pacific is Oregon’s most diverse university, with federal designations as the state’s first four-year Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). Roughly 61% of WPU’s traditional undergraduate students identify as students of color, including 32% who identify as Hispanic. WPU has many strong partners across the educational pipeline and will collaborate directly with three K12 public school districts and three community colleges across the region to achieve the ¡Adelante! Project.
