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 third Tuesday at 4 p.m. Join meeting.

Register for the 2025 Pennsylvania Educators Rising Conference

Please join us for the the 2025 Pennsylvania Educators Rising State Conference on March 28, 2025, at the Penn Stater Hotel 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. Conference attire for both days is business/business casual. View the full agenda.

Important Registration Information 

The registration fee is $0, however, EACH person attending MUST REGISTER and SELECT their breakout sessions, t-shirt size, and provide any dietary restrictions. Registration includes four meals, materials, and the conference t-shirt. Parking is free. Click here to view bus drop off and parking instructions.

Registration is available to all Educators Rising members on a first come, first serve basis. Registration closes on March 7. Click here to view the registration instructions. 

What to Expect

Award Opportunities

Pennsylvania Educators Rising will distribute awards at the conference to highlight the student members and Teacher Leaders do from around the state. All nominations must be submitted electronically by March 24. 

Meet the 2025 Pennsylvania Educators Rising Conference keynote speaker, Leon Smith.

Leon Smith is an educator and policy advocate with over 23 years of experience. He is a life-long learner and extremely passionate about the profession of teaching. Leon graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a bachelor’s degree in secondary social studies education and earned his master’s degree in Instructional Systems from Pennsylvania State University. He received his PK-12 Principal’s certification from Cabrini University.

Leon was named the 2025 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.  In 2020, he was named a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by The National Society of High School Scholars. Cabrini University’s Center for Urban Education awarded Leon the High Impact Moral and Courageous Teacher Award in 2024.

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 "Beginning to Teach" micro-credential courses to test the skills students have learned. Each course requires 5-15 minutes 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.

Phi Delta Kappa-Educators Rising and PennWest University

Students who have successfully mastered the PDK Educators Rising cirriciulum will be eligible to receive the following college credits upon enrollment in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education or the Bachelor of Science in Middle and Secondary Education Degree at PennWest. The student must successfully master the competencies and skills outlined in the Ed Rising curriculum by attaining the micro-credentials and/or passing the NOCTI associated with CIP 13.0101 (Commendable or Highly Skilled) or, as an alternative to the NOCTI, passing the ParaPro Assessment with a minimum cut score of 459. Students must be enrolled in the Ed Rising curriculum to receive credit for the micro-credentials. The student will be required to provide appropriate documentation (NOCTI/ParaPro results or micro-credential attainment) to the Office of the Registrar (registrar@pennwest.edu).

To participate in this program, a student must apply and be admitted to PennWest University. Students must submit their PennWest University admission application and all admission requirements to the Office of Admissions with PennWest. During the application process, students must submit a signed Letter of Intent (see Appendix A). The letter of intent must be submitted to the following email address: (registrar@pennwest.edu) and include, “Attention to: Transfer Credit”. 

Resources for Educators & Students

Resources for teacher leaders

Educators Rising in Pennsylvania Bylaws

NEA Aspiring Educator/Educators Rising flyer

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. 

2025 Educators Rising National Conference

The 2025 Educators Rising National Conference will take place June 26-29, 2025, in Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel. This theme is Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders.

It’s a unique opportunity for students and their teacher leaders to:

  • 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.

Stay tuned for more information on registration.

*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 action

Mt. Pleasant Area School District

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 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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