Golden Apple inspires, develops and supports teacher and school leader excellence, especially in schools-of-need.
Through our unique programming, Golden Apple honors outstanding teachers and school leaders; they, in turn, support the growth and development of preservice teachers; they also support our Golden Apple Scholars in their early years of teaching through hands-on, personalized mentoring. This is particularly important as the teacher shortage across the country continues to grow.
Golden Apple will make a material difference in resolving the teacher shortage through its Scholars and Accelerators programs by expanding the pipeline of highly effective, diverse educators.
Our leading-edge education preparation through the Golden Apple Scholars and Accelerators programs deliver exceptional teachers who make an impact from day one. We help students thrive in the classroom and in life.
Golden Apple elevates the teaching and school leadership professions through recognition of master teachers and school leaders with the Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership. Award recipients play an important role in preparing the next generation of teachers by providing instruction and mentorship to future teachers in the Golden Apple Scholars and Accelerators programs.
The Teacher Shortage Crisis
There is a critical shortage of high-quality educators statewide and nationwide. In Illinois, there are more than 3,500 unfilled teaching positions and nearly 750 in New Mexico. While in the past 10 years, colleges of education in Illinois universities experienced a 50% decline in enrollment.
“The teacher shortage crisis demands our immediate attention as it poses a real threat to the future of students in every corner of our state, especially the most vulnerable who are from economically challenged communities with underfunded and under-resourced schools. There is no greater priority facing the education community today, and as an organization that has successfully championed this work, Golden Apple is positioned to meet this head on.”
Golden Apple Scholars & Accelerators: The Future Teacher Pipeline
The Golden Apple Scholars Program is focused on recruiting high school seniors through sophomores in college, from communities in which they will likely return to serve, as highly effective teachers in schools-of-need. Our Scholars are largely first-generation in their families to attend and persist in college, reflect the communities' diversity in which they will teach, and are high-achieving. Scholars receive social-emotional support, academic support, help finding a right-fit teaching placement, and mentoring in their first years of teaching. They are well-prepared to enter their classroom in some of the most challenging and historically underserved schools; and, they remain in teaching longer than those prepared by any other program. And, while more than 50% of Illinois students are of color, only 19% of Illinois teachers are people of color; Golden Apple is working to address this inequity, with 53% of its Scholars in Illinois being teachers of color.
Despite dwindling enrollment in colleges of education at many universities, each year interest from highly-qualified applicants to our program far outpaces the funding necessary to support expansion of our capacity to prepare more Golden Apple Scholars.
The Accelerators program was designed to meet the teacher shortage crisis head on throughout southern, central and western Illinois by recruiting, preparing and mentoring college seniors and non-educators with bachelor’s degrees looking to make a difference in classrooms right in their communities. This new teacher residency and licensure program is expediting the preparation of highly-qualified educators.
Scholars By The Numbers
Partnering with Education Leaders
Golden Apple is the hub to provide highly-effective teachers to Illinois schools-of-need and we’re collaborating with our award-winning Golden Apple Fellows and expert partner organizations to make a greater impact.
Award-winning Golden Apple Fellows instruct, mentor and coach Scholars. By pairing the expertise of our Golden Apple Fellows and expert partner organizations, we bring the right resources to our Scholars during their preparation to ensure that they have everything that they need to reach their future students and excel in the classroom in schools-of-need.
What Illinois Principals Are Saying About Scholars
