CFDA Number: 84.350
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants

The program provides grants to:

• Recruit and retain highly qualified midcareer professionals (including highly qualified paraprofessionals) and recent graduates of IHEs, as teachers in high-need schools, including recruiting teachers through alternative routes to teacher certification; and
• Encourage the development and expansion of alternative routes to certification under stateapproved programs that enable individuals to be eligible for teacher certification within a reduced period of time, relying on the experience, expertise, and academic qualifications of an individual or other factors in lieu of traditional course work in the field of education.

The program funds national, regional, statewide, and local projects.

The Transition to Teaching program supports the recruitment and retention of highly qualified mid-career professionals, including qualified paraprofessionals, and recent college graduates who have not majored in education to teach in high-need schools and districts through the development of new or enhanced alternative routes to certification.

The program provides five-year grants to state and local educational agencies, or for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, or institutions of higher education collaborating with state or local educational agencies. Grantees develop and implement comprehensive approaches to train, place, and support teacher candidates whom they have recruited into their programs, which must meet relevant State certification or licensing requirements. Grantees then ensure that program participants are placed to teach in high-need schools and districts and support candidates to serve in these placements for at least three years.