There's a saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

But that isn't always true, especially when it comes to teaching Kentucky auditions.

Kelsey Starks explains.

We've told you a lot about the national teacher shortage and how it's affecting districts across Kentucky.

While new teachers are absolutely still in need, the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative, or Ovac, is teaching current teachers some new tricks to help them fill some of the gaps.

Alicia Selz is the director of innovation and this program is called Teach Tech.

It's all about teaching computer science and computational thinking.

And really, no matter what you're trained on in teaching, you're going to have to use some of this at some point.

I was shocked to hear this statistic from you all.

Teacher preparation programs in Kentucky didn't graduate.

A single new teacher that's prepared to teach computer science.

In the past four years.

So why isn't this a part of teacher training already?

That's absolutely correct.

And I think it's a matter of timing.

I think technology has exploded in the world around us and teacher preparation maybe is not quite caught up to that yet.

I think we're just starting to see how technology shows itself in English or social studies or history.

And so what we're asking in teaching at Kentucky is for math teachers to learn about computer science and computational thinking and integrate those concepts into their lessons.

Then the American Institute for Research is going to measure whether or not there is any correlation between what those teachers taught and students math achievement.

And so who can apply to this program?

It's math teachers, right?

It is.

It's math teachers in grades three through eight.

And they do have to be math teachers that record so full time math teachers in their schools.

And what can they expect to get out of the program or what's it going to entail?

So it's really transformational for students to learn these skills.

But there's also an opportunity here for teachers to earn benefits that can have a lifetime impact for them.

So teachers learn in six micro credentials their self-paced professional learning.

They can when they finish that, earn a $4,050 stipend and just be done.

Or they can apply that $4,050 stipend and the coursework or microcode into work that they've done to a ranked change program.

That's micro credential based.

It's called the CEO to Rank Change Program approved by the Education Professional Standards Board, and they would earn 15 more micro credentials and earn a rank change, which is how they move up on the salary schedule.

So teachers could move up on the salary schedule.

And then of course, once you make more money, you're also increasing your retirement benefits for the rest of your life.

And you say that's been even more popular than the stipend so far.

Absolutely.

We have 14 teachers implementing now.

All 14 are doing it for their name change, but they have really enjoyed learning about computational thinking and computer science.

They see direct connection with math content.

But yes, it's definitely an important thing for teachers.

The traditional parts of ranked change is to get a master's degree.

It's expensive.

I don't think it requires teachers after school or on the weekend driving to a university campus.

In this particular case, they can do it at home at their own pace and it doesn't cost them anything.

Now, you already touched on this just a little bit, but let's go back to it about the how.

This is not only transformational for teachers, it is truly transformational for the students.

It is absolutely.

I mean, computational thinking is basically problem solving, strategic problem solving and computer science and technology is all around us.

I mean, there's no question it's just exploded everywhere from our phones and our Netflix and all of the other things we do.

So AG Computer science jobs are some of the highest wage jobs in Kentucky.

The average salary for computer science job is over $72,000, compared to a $42,000 average for all other jobs in Kentucky.

So it's incredibly important that we do everything we can do to prepare students for that workforce.

And teachers can apply.

Right now, applications are online.

You can find out more at Teach Tech why dot.com?