SSTAR Lab Studies the New Teacher Pledge Program
The Teacher Pledge Program is a new School of Education loan forgiveness program. UW–Madison students who take the Pledge receive loans to pay their in-state tuition, fees, testing, and licensure. After teaching K-12 in Wisconsin for three to four years, the loans are completely forgiven. The goal of this program is to encourage a diverse cohort of undergraduate and graduate students into studying education and pursuing careers in teaching.
So, will this experiment in forgivable loans work? This is where Kathryn Boonstra comes in.
Kathryn is new the SSTAR Lab this fall and her background in qualitative research and teacher education makes her ideal for this work. Kathryn will be looking at data from DEM, the School of Education, and the Department of Public Instruction to study who is and is not taking and completing the Pledge. She will look at their FAFSA data, course completion rates, graduation rates, and teaching placements. She will also employ surveys and focus groups of teacher education students at various stages of their educational and professional journeys to answer questions including what motivated their decision to pursuing teaching, how they are financing their teacher education program, and what role the Pledge loans plays in their plans.
Kathryn will be studying the Pledge program to answer several important questions:
- Who participates in the Pledge and why?
- What role does the Pledge play in students’ decisions to pursue teaching?
- Does the Pledge increase the size and diversity of prospective teachers who enroll at UW and ultimately teach in Wisconsin?
- Will the Pledge help teachers stay in the teaching profession longer?