On October 7, 2023, South Central started a new cohort of ArPEP. The Arkansas Professional Educator Pathway (ArPEP), is an affordable two-year, work-based, alternative certification program that is administered by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. Enrollment in this program allows a candidate with a bachelor’s degree or higher to be licensed and employed as a classroom teacher while completing the necessary requirements for a Standard Arkansas Teaching License. ArPEP’s goal is to prepare day-one teachers to meet the growing demand of the teacher pipeline in Arkansas. The primary objective of ArPEP is to train future educators on how to:
- build classroom communities
- design effective lesson plans
- implement evidence-based instructional strategies, and
- use assessments to facilitate student learning