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.

Save the date for Educators Rising in Pennsylvania's spring conference!

  • When: March 28, 2025
  • Where: Penn State University, Main Campus

Register for the Educators Rising Pennsylvania fall conference

Join us for the 2024 Educators Rising Pennsylvania fall conference on Friday, November 8 at Millersville University. 

Registration includes:
- Professional learning breakout sessions designed to inspire students
- Motivational keynote by the 2024 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year
- Millersville University campus tour
- Professional networking for students and teacher leaders
- Teacher Leader session (Act 48 eligible)
- Lunch at the Millersville University cafeteria
- Millersville University swag and PSEA swag

Registration closes on Friday, November 1.

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.

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.

Resources for Educators & Students

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

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