The deadline to apply for second cohort is May 15
Updated: April 18, 2024
Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association members can register to earn their Master’s of Education online starting this fall for $11,500 from Spalding University through a partnership with the nonprofit What School Could Be and the national education design lab 2Revolutions.
HSTA is assembling its second Hawaiʻi cohort of up to 50 public and charter school teachers to enroll in the program, which begins in fall 2024. Members must apply by May 15 to be considered for the cohort. The local cadre of teachers will have a Hawaiʻi-based facilitator for support throughout the program.
HSTA’s first cohort began earning their online Master’s of Education degree in March. Teachers say the discounted tuition and local support made the decision to apply easy.
Tammy Cabral, an 8th-grade special education teacher at Waiʻanae Intermediate School, said, “I’m actually in the class with one of my own peers from our school, and then a couple from the high school, and just meeting all these people with the same purpose is super cool with a cohort from Hawaiʻi.”
About the program
The 30-credit-hour program features asynchronous online (80%) and synchronous virtual and in-person learning experiences (20%) with a combined focus on both individual and district transformation. While the program is national, the live virtual components for the Hawaiʻi cohort will be held at convenient times for Hawaiʻi educators.
The cost for HSTA members for the second cohort is $11,500, payable in four or 12 installments. There is no application fee and no deposit is required to register if you sign up for free membership to the What School Could Be community. By comparison, the national average costs for a Master of Education program range anywhere from $30,000 to $55,000.
What School Could Be Executive Director Kapono Ciotti said, “We need to do everything we can as a community, as a full community, to ensure that Hawaiʻi’s keiki are best prepared to shape their own futures. The tools offered during the course of study will help teachers create a dynamic and engaging classroom.”