Wichita State University’s Teacher Apprentice Program (TAP) will welcome 24 new Kansas registered teacher apprentices for the 2025-26 academic year. These paraeducators, who are employed across 14 Kansas school districts, will begin the next step in their journey toward becoming licensed teachers while continuing to serve in their local schools.
Districts represented in this growth span from northeast Kansas districts like De Soto, Lansing, Eudora and Riverside, to central districts such as Salina and Lyons, and all the way to Liberal in the southwest.
The WSU TAP program partnered with the Kansas State Department of Education to pilot the Kansas Registered Teacher Apprentice initiative, which aims to address teacher shortages by supporting paraeducators in earning their teaching credentials through a registered apprenticeship model.
The expansion reflects the continued success and impact of this innovative approach to teacher education.