ProTeam is a curriculum-based middle school recruitment program encouraging exemplary students in seventh and eighth grades to attend college and consider education as a viable career option. Interest in growing in this program as it strongly connects with the South Carolina Education and Economic Development Act. States across the country successfully tie this program into career and technology education.

The Diverse Pathways Project is a federal grant that allows CERRA to partner with community colleges and other institutions of higher education to recruit students of color and males into teaching. The partnership continue to grow between USC Columbia, Midlands Tech, Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech, Trident Tech and the College of Charleston. CERRA sponsors an annual professional development conference for members of the partnership.

The Teacher Cadet Program is our nationally-recognized high school teacher recruitment program designed to help students understand the unique opportunities of teaching as a career option. The program is offered at nearly 175 high schools in South Carolina and the curriculum is in use in more than 30 states across the country. The program is open to academically talented, high-achieving juniors and seniors who express an interest in teaching. Students complete field placements in public school classrooms, explore issues in education and learn about curriculum development and learning strategies. In South Carolina, college credit is given through partnering institutions of higher education.

CERRA is the state contact for Future Educators Association. Through this sponsorship, CERRA provides information to high school and college FEA chapters and assists with registration costs. There are more than 50 chapters across the state with other schools working to establish the club. In July 2008, CERRA hosted the first-ever statewide FEA Conference on the campus of the College of Charleston, serving nearly 100 high school students.

The South Carolina Teaching Fellows Program is one of the most competitive scholarship/loan programs in the state. The Teaching Fellows Program awards a forgivable scholarship/loan to select high school seniors who exhibit a strong desire to become teachers. The award provides up to $6,000 annually to students who pursue degrees in education. The program has proven to be effective in achieving the overall goal of recruiting teachers to South Carolina as there are more than 450 teachers in the state who are Teaching Fellows graduates (based on the 2000-2003 cohorts). Students attend one of the 11 partnering institutions and are supported through the program.

The Online Job Bank provides an outlet for districts to post teacher vacancies and for teacher candidates to locate teaching positions in all 85 school districts. CERRA updates vacancies every two weeks or as received from districts. Positions are linked directly to the South Carolina Educator Employment and Certification System.

In partnership with the South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA), CERRA sponsors the South Carolina Teacher Expo, a one-day job fair designed to match teacher candidates to current district vacancies. The Expo, held annually on the first Monday of June in Columbia, attracts jobseekers from across the United States and several foreign countries. In June 2008, 64 school districts and more than 1,000 jobseekers attended.

The South Carolina Educator Employment and Certification Application System is a one-stop-shop allowing job candidates to apply to all districts in South Carolina through a single application. Many of the 85 school districts in the state require applicants to submit an application to the system. Candidates seeking teacher certification also use this system to initiate the certification process.

CERRA supports the development of teacher leadership through workshop and training experiences for the state's District Teachers of the Year to work together as a State Teacher Forum in developing and supporting local teacher forums. Teacher Leaders receiving support and professional development from CERRA also include National Board teachers, district liaisons, and loan applicants; public school and education institution instructors for CERRA's programs; trained mentors; and other district level liaisons involved in retention and advancement programs. Terry Dozier, the 1985 South Carolina Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year, helped model the National Teacher Forum after what is being done in South Carolina.

CERRA, through state and national partnerships, assisted in creating the Induction and Mentoring Guidelines which were approved on September 13, 2006, by the State Board of Education. As a teacher leadership and retention initiative, the Guidelines are designed to increase student learning through the work of well-trained and well-supported mentors for beginning teachers. To date, CERRA has trained nearly 5,000 teachers in effective mentor techniques, including 1,731 teachers in FY2007-08. Each of these mentors is vital to reducing the turnover rate of begining teachers. This service has connected with 83 school districts (out of 85 total), the Department of Juvenile Justice and the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind.