Among the nearly 800 students who graduated this fall from Middle Georgia State University (MGA) are about 40 members of the charter class of the IGNITE Teacher Residency Program, a grow-your-own classroom teachers initiative of the DeKalb County School District.
Launched about a year ago, the school district chose to partner with MGA’s School of Education & Behavioral Sciences, which offers an online Master of Arts in Teaching program. The school district selected students who hold non-education bachelor’s degrees to move through MGA’s master’s program together as a cohort. DeKalb covered tuition and provided each student with a living stipend. In exchange, the graduates commit to teaching in the DeKalb County School District for at least five years.
