Educators Rising
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Educators Rising

Educators Rising is a community-based movement that provides Grow Your Own programming for high school students through the Educators Rising curriculum and embraces teaching as a profession. 

PSEA is proud to be the coordinator for Educators Rising in Pennsylvania because it will be an important part of the Association’s efforts to address the school staff shortage crisis.

Educators Rising offers classroom-ready curriculum, training, and support that help high school students begin their journey to becoming future educators. Teacher leaders who bring an Educators Rising chapter to their school district will create new opportunities for more talented young people to enter the education profession.

Educators Rising Teacher Leaders: join us for the monthly meeting every second Tuesday at 4 p.m. Join meeting.

2026 Educators Rising Spring Conference - March 13, 2026 - The Nittany Lion Inn & Penn State University Campus, State College

Conference attendees will have opportunities for professional development, compete for individual and chapter awards, and network with future, aspiring, and current educators, including the 2026 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Madeline Loring.

The registration fee is $0 for Educators Rising students. Attendees and/or chapters are responsible for their transportion. Registration includes meals, materials, and the conference t-shirt. Meals will be provided.

Educators Rising can be implemented in multiple ways:

  • Career Technical Education (CTE) instructional program
  • Co-curricular program

Funding Educators Rising in your school district.

Frequently asked questions, videos, and resources to help you get started.

If you are interested in bringing an Educators Rising chapter to your school district and/or serving as its teacher leader, please complete the form linked below.

Educators Rising's standards for high school students exploring a career in education

  1. Understanding the profession
  2. Learning about students
  3. Building content knowledge
  4. Engaging in responsive planning
  5. Implementing instruction
  6. Using assessments and data
  7. Engaging in reflective practice

Educators Rising's cross-cutting themes

  1. Cultural competence
  2. Fairness, equity, and diversity
  3. Reflective practice
  4. Ethics
  5. Collaboration
  6. Social justice and advocacy
  7. Self-efficacy

Curriculum

Curriculum overview

The Educators Rising curriculum emphasizes fundamental teaching practices that are critical for high school students to develop and take their first steps on the path to becoming accomplished educators.

Sample lessons

Micro-credentials

Educators Rising provides micro-credential courses to test the skills students have learned. Each course requires 5-15 hours of work and awards digital badges on completion. Submission criteria, a research base, recommended resources for preparing a submission, and a scoring rubric is provided for each micro-credential course.

  • Lesson Design: The rising educator analyzes the underlying strategies and active practices of effective lesson design that skilled educators implement and sustain.
  • Effective Classroom Leadership: The rising educator learns how to lead an effective classroom by using high-leverage classroom management practices including establishing clear expectations, providing consistent feedback, and developing strong teacher-student relationships for a structured and supportive classroom.
  • Collaboration: The rising educator strategically and successfully seeks out, synthesizes, and incorporates relevant ideas from other educators into his/her own instructional practice.
  • Formative Assessment: The rising educator finds ways to spur student growth through the creative, knowledgeable usage of formative assessment strategies.
  • Learner Engagement: The rising educator strategically hooks and sustains learners’ engagement throughout a learning experience.

Explore

View Educators Rising's partnerships with Pennsylvania colleges and universities.

  • PennWest University
  • Slippery Rock University
  • Saint Vincent College
  • Mercyhurst University
  • Gannon University
  • Point Park University
  • Carlow University

Resources for Educators & Students

Resources for teacher leaders

Educators Rising in Pennsylvania Bylaws

NEA Aspiring Educator/Educators Rising flyer

NEW! Handbook for Chapter Leaders

Resources for students

Scholarships

As a partner of PDK International, Educators Rising offers more than 30 scholarships through the PDK Educational Foundation.

PSEA awards scholarships to high school seniors who plan to enroll in an accredited teacher preparation program in Pennsylvania through the Lucy A. Valero Memorial Scholarship. 

Educators Rising National Honor Society

The Educators Rising Honor Society is a distinction that recognizes academic accomplishments and serves to elevate the image of teaching by highlighting high-achieving high school students who are dedicated to a career path in education.

Student PSEA

Student PSEA is made up of 7,000 collegiate aspiring educators. High school students previously enrolled in Educators Rising are invited to join Student PSEA after they graduate and begin a teacher preparation program at a Pennsylvania college or university. 

Grants

2026-27 Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program

The Pennsylvania General Assembly established the Grow PA Grant Program to help build the workforce in PA. The program meets our state’s workforce needs while also providing career training and higher education opportunities without students having to take on as much debt. The grants will again be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Apply for a grant.

2025-26 Educators Rising Conferences

The spring 2026 Pennsylvania Educators Rising State Conference will be held on March 13 at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College.

This event is for all Pennyslvania Educators Rising high school students interested in a career as an educator. Intereseted Teacher Leaders who do not have students are welcome to attend. 

The 2026 Educators Rising National Conference will be held in Portland, Oregon. Stay tuned for more updates.

Students and teacher leaders will:

  • Connect and learn from each other through more than 40 breakout sessions;
  • Network with other members from across the country;
  • Compete for national titles in competitive events designed to allow students to develop and showcase their teaching skills; and
  • Be inspired by keynote presentations from national education leaders.

*At the National Conference, a student can attend the conference with a parent. Parents will need to register for the conference if they plan to attend any part of it including the awards ceremony. Parents are not permitted to watch their students compete unless they are competing in a public competition. Teacher leaders are not obligated to attend if a parent attends with their student.

Educators Rising in the news

Mt. Pleasant Area School District

Phoenxiville Area School District

Educators Rising preparing next generation of Pa. teachers

"Duty Free Lunch" podcast - Why Phoenixville's Educators Rising program is a model for schools everywhere

"Duty Free Lunch" - How Educators Rising is helping refuel Pennsylvania's educator pipeline

Educators Rising in Pennsylvania awards

Outstanding Servant Leader Award nomination form

Outstanding Ed Rising Chapter Event Award nomination form

Outstanding Teacher Leader Award nomination form

Exceptional Underclassman Award nomination form

Achieving Professional Excellence Program (A.P.E.X)

The A.P.E.X (Achieving Professional Excellence) program empowers chapters to engage in diverse projects across four key categories:

  • Community service
  • Leadership and membership development
  • Professional development
  • General organization and quality

APEX is a record of goals achieved and activities carried out by PA Ed Rising chapters, with recognition and awards bestowed at the annual state conference. To participate, chapters are encouraged to designate an individual to oversee all documentation as outlined within the rubric throughout the year.

Meet the Educators Rising 2025-26 Executive Board

Meet Your State Coordinator

Dr. Christopher M. Clayton, Sr., Pennsylvania State Coordinator
Email: cclayton@psea.org
Phone: (717) 255-7028

Dr. Clayton, Sr., serves as PSEA's Assistant Director of Education Services. He is responsible for providing support to over 177,000 PSEA members on issues involving teacher certification, student achievement, pedagogical best practices, and research in teaching and learning. He also directs the Student PSEA Aspiring Educator program.

  • Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education and Ed.S. in Education Leadership, Administration, and Policy from The University of Georgia
  • Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Regis University
  • National Board Certified Teacher
  • Previous high school English and International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge teacher and coach in southern California and Washington state
  • Previous district administrator and Director of Curriculum and Instruction in a large metro-Atlanta school district with 138 schools and over 100,000 students

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