ISD 917 and the other three Minnesota Intermediate School Districts (916, 288, & 287) are collaborating with Minnesota State University - Mankato and the Department of Labor & Industry to design and launch the first Teacher Apprenticeship Program in Minnesota in the summer of 2024.
Under the ITRAC (Intermediate District Teacher Residency Apprenticeship Collaborative) umbrella, diverse staff, union members and leaders, and district leaders from each organization have worked together to design a program to engage Apprentices (aka paraprofessionals) in job-embedded learning and related instruction at minimal cost to meet the 2023 Standards of Effective Practice, content standards for Emotional-Behavioral Disorders (EBD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) licensure, and Department of Labor & Industry apprenticeship requirements within two years of beginning the program.
We have designed this program to:
• Create pathways for professional growth
• Ensure all positions are filled by highly qualified staff
• Reduce waitlists for in-demand programs
• Diversify our educator workforce
• Retain and leverage expertise of current staff
• Align daily student experiences with new Standards of Effective Practice
In the state of Minnesota, Intermediate School Districts (ISD 287, ISD 288, ISD 916, & ISD 917) offer integrated services in special education, alternative education, and career and technical education for member districts and beyond. We specialize in understanding and meeting the diverse academic, social-emotional, and behavioral/mental health needs of students with disabilities so they can thrive in school and life. We are also experts in providing the professional development and training teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff need to work as high-functioning teams to provide student-centered, culturally sustaining and responsive learning environments focused on social justice.
Learn more about Teacher Apprenticeships and the ITRAC Teacher Apprenticeship Program below.