Linderholm takes over from former Dean Van Dempsey, who UNCW Chancellor Aswani Volety removed from his position over the controversy surrounding the Razor Walker Award. Her expertise is in educational psychology. She previously worked at the University of Florida and, most recently, Georgia Southern University.
“While I was there, I started to become very passionate about solving the teacher crisis because it's so foundational to society; we need excellent schools and excellent teachers,” she said.
The state teacher attrition rate reached 11% last year — and the pipeline into teaching also needs improvement; since 2019, there has been an 18% decrease in enrollment at Watson. But Linderholm says it has recovered some in the last year — just over 10%.
“And we saw that increase across our initial teacher licensure programs and our, you know, other graduate programs equally,” Linderholm said.
She adds that they’ll graduate about 100 new elementary teachers this year.
WHQR has asked the university for enrollment breakdowns for Watson students preparing to teach preschool, elementary, and subject-discipline middle and high school grades and has yet to receive those numbers.
Linderholm said she also wants to recruit more people of color for teaching positions.
“The majority of teachers are generally middle to upper middle class, white, and female. And so this program, the Call Me Mister program, sought to attract other underrepresented groups," she said. "For example, Black males are very rare in elementary and middle schools as teachers. [...] There's just so much research out there that shows high-quality teachers, high-quality school leaders who reflect the student body promote learning for all students, but particularly underrepresented students.”
She said she’s hoping to bring the 'Call Me Mister' program to UNCW. She previously helped to set it up at Georgia Southern, and in the state, it’s already established at Western Carolina University.
She and her team have also written proposals to fund pilot programs through private donors or foundations to help teachers coming in with alternative backgrounds. These pilots would start with funding a cohort of about 30 students.
In the first one, UNCW “targeted teaching assistants (TAs) who tend to be more diverse in the first place, but tend to have family responsibilities and other things so they can't quit their job and earn their teacher license and finish their bachelor's degree,” she said.
This opportunity would allow them to stay in their TA position while finishing an online degree in elementary education and obtaining this license.
A second proposal would support scholarships for resident teacher license positions. These employees already teach and have bachelor’s degrees but still need a license. They would also earn a Master’s degree.
She said she’d like to see an increase in teacher pay, although she didn’t know how much. She also wants preschool educators included in the state salary schedule.
“Salary often is a reflection of the significance of the work, and so I'd love to see the salary match the significance and importance of the work,” she said.
Last year, the General Assembly provided an average 3% raise for the state's teachers. This year, Governor Roy Cooper would like an average 8.5% increase with a $1,500 retention bonus. The House of Representatives is calling for an average 4.4% increase.
The General Assembly (GA) also approved spending $487 million over two years for Opportunity Scholarships last budget cycle. This voucher system gives families anywhere from $3,360 to $7,468 per student to attend private, charter, or religious schools. The amount provided for each student is based on income, but the GA cleared any income caps associated with accessing the funding.
In September, the GA approved $463 million in additional funding to clear the voucher waiting list. (Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the bill — but a successful override vote is expected soon.)
Of the vouchers awarded, only 19% went to families making up to $57,720 ('Tier 1'). WUNC reports that last year, more than half of the applications came from households with annual incomes up to $115,000 ('Tier 2'). The next 'tier' to access funding is families making up to $259,740 — and the fourth and final tier is over $260,000.
WUNC also reported that most of the current waitlist members have household incomes "higher than two-thirds of North Carolinians."
As for moving up the ladder of expertise for teachers, Linderholm said the state of North Carolina can take note of the job opportunities that Georgia has created for educators.
“There was a career ladder, and you could see the future, and if you wanted to put a certain level of effort into your professional development, you knew what the results would be. So I would love to see that here in North Carolina, as I think that would help to attract more people to the profession and retain people longer,” she said.
Linderholm also wants to continue providing professional development for the Cape Fear region teachers. This includes helping educators focus on self-care and their mental health.
They’re also hiring an executive director for UNCW’s D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy. She said they hope to support that school and the work of trauma-informed pedagogy.
She is also working on whether there could be a better transition of credits and funding streams for students starting at Cape Fear Community College in educator preparation programs to transfer to UNCW to finish a teaching degree.
