When a wave of COVID-19 cases left the Mobile County Public School System short on teachers just as the 2021 school year began, district officials landed on an unusual solution: putting college students in charge of virtual classrooms.
The district recruited roughly a dozen education students from the University of South Alabama to lead online classes for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Each of the student teachers was paid for the work and remained under the supervision of a certified teacher, according to the school system.
Rena Phillips, the district’s director of communications, said the participants had already been flagged by the university and their placement schools as standout candidates. “They have been identified by South and also at the schools that they worked at last year to be rising stars and people that we want to hire full time,” Phillips said.
Why the District Needed a Virtual Option
The program grew out of a survey sent to Mobile County parents asking whether they wanted a remote learning choice during the pandemic surge. The response made clear that demand existed, and the district moved quickly to stand up a virtual track before the first day of school.
Phillips described the virtual school as self-paced, with lessons delivered online and staff monitoring progress closely. Students who fell behind were slated to receive extra intervention, tutoring, and individual support rather than being left to drift.
A Creative Answer to a Stubborn Problem
The arrangement gave aspiring teachers hands-on classroom experience months before they would have received it through a traditional student-teaching placement, while giving the district staffing flexibility it badly needed. District leaders framed the effort as a way to identify future full-time hires early — students who proved themselves in the virtual classrooms were seen as strong candidates for permanent positions once they completed their certification.