Advancing educators and communities
JET's Mission
JET provides expert multi-year 1:1 mentoring, college admissions advising, and financial aid guidance to ethnic-racially diverse cohorts of Massachusetts paraeducators who aspire to obtain a bachelor’s degree and Massachusetts teaching license. We prioritize working with communities where the ethnic-racial diversity of the student population does not align with the ethnic-racial composition of the teacher workforce.
Our Vision
JET envisions an effective teacher workforce that reflects the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of K-12 public schools to help all students achieve academic success; a world where underrepresented and diverse adult learners succeed in college, the teaching profession, and life; school districts that prioritize capacity building, mentoring, and leadership of existing personnel to develop local talent; equitable education systems in K-12 and postsecondary institutions; and thriving, economically sustainable communities.
Our Approach
We achieve our mission with a unique model that achieves several important benefits. With each new cohort, we:
Prepare more teachers who reflect the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of the student population
Bring non-traditional, first-in-the-family adult students into higher education and significantly raise their college completion rates
Boost student achievement and develops role models in schools, families, and communities
Cultivate new teachers with strong community ties who are more likely to stay in the classroom
Improve the socio-economic status of low income wage earners, with ripple effects across communities
Our Values
Equity
JET recognizes that inequities still persist in K-12 and postsecondary education systems. JET is committed to dismantling inequitable policies and practices so that young people and adults succeed in college, careers, and life.
Empowerment
JET provides tools, resources, knowledge-building experiences, and peer learning communities that empower paraeducators to take hold of and persist in their academic and professional growth.
Systems Change
JET takes a systems approach by partnering with schools, districts, and higher education institutions to build community-based teacher pipelines that enable aspiring educators to succeed in their journey to obtain a bachelor’s degree and teaching license.
Diversity
JET honors the racial, cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds of its JET scholars, and we are committed to diversifying the educator workforce to improve the academic outcomes of all students.
Collaboration
JET believes that in order to bring about transformational change, we need to work collaboratively with practitioners, leaders, community advocates, and policymakers across institutions and sectors.
“JET is making the dream of being a teacher come true for our instructional assistants. The personal meetings, collaboration with Worcester State University, mentoring and the
genuine caring for our instructional assistants make this program exceptional!”
— Maureen Binienda, Former Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools