E. Idaho flooded with student teachers

REXBURG, Idaho — The establishment of Brigham Young University-Idaho was a major boon to Madison County and the Upper Snake River region but it has flooded eastern Idaho with student teachers.

“It’s really changed the whole complexion of the game,” said Lane Hemming, Madison School District assistant superintendent.

Since two-year Ricks College became a full-fledged university three years ago, the number of education majors in eastern Idaho has nearly quadrupled.

Idaho State University had about 800 that provided a steady stream of student teachers to districts up and down the eastern side of the state. BYU-Idaho has added 2,100 more, and between them the number of student teachers each semester can approach 400. It has created an overflow that can only be handled by enlisting school districts outside Idaho.

“They ship off a lot of people,” said Andrea Grover, who is still waiting to hear whether she will land a spot in eastern Idaho.

Hemming said its student-teaching corps this fall is nearly 20 compared to the five or six the district handled before BYU-Idaho. Increases have been handled as well by other districts in the region, but they cannot keep pace.

“I don’t know that we have the capacity to take on more student-teachers than we have now,” said George Boland, supervisor of Instructional Services for the Idaho Falls School District.

To deal with the growth, Ben Speelmon, director of student-teaching at BYU-Idaho, said students are being assigned to schools in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tacoma and Mesa, Ariz. The Las Vegas district alone has about 30,000 more public school students than the entire state of Idaho.

The 16 weeks students spend in the classroom with a full-time teacher are the finale to their education, and districts are trying to balance the importance of keeping excellent teachers working with students while making sure future teachers get some needed classroom experience.

Bill Watkins, coordinator of field experience at Idaho State’s College of Education, said BYU-Idaho officials have worked closely with his school to make sure both can place their qualified students.