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Past Extra Credits All issues |
Recruiting Highly Qualified Teachers in New York City
One of the keys to recruiting highly qualified teachers is developing innovative alternative routes to teaching. Here's a quick look at one program New York City is using to recruit new teachers:
New York City's response to a shortage of qualified teachers was to create its Teaching Fellows program in 2000. The program recruits candidates who hold at least a bachelor's degree. Candidates receive two months of pre-service training during the summer before they enter the classroom. The pre-service training includes coursework toward earning their master's in education; field-based work with experienced New York City teachers; and meetings with an advisor to learn teaching skills and classroom-management techniques. A non-taxable stipend of $2,500 is provided to defray their living expenses during the summer.
Upon completing their pre-service training, Teaching Fellows enter the classroom as fulltime first-year teachers. They are required to have a bachelor's or master's degree in the subject they teach. Meanwhile, the city pays the bulk of the cost for Teaching Fellows to pursue their master's in education in the evenings and on weekends at one of 14 area colleges and universities with which the program has partnered. The coursework, including courses in the history of education, the methods and principles of teaching, the philosophical foundation of education, and classroom organization, typically takes about two years, whereupon Fellows are eligible for the state's initial certification. After three years of teaching, they can apply for the state's professional certification.
About 1,850 Fellows began teaching this year in high-need schools largely in the Bronx and in Brooklyn, representing about 25 percent of the city's new hires. They come from a diverse array of fields--the arts, the financial sector, consulting, accounting, engineering; stay-at-home parents, journalists, lawyers and doctors. The program received 15,000 applications for the 2002-03 school year, and 20,000 applications for next year.
About Extra Credit
NCLB Extra Credit is a regular look at the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's landmark education reform initiative passed with bipartisan support in Congress.
If you would like the NCLB Extra Credit emailed to you, please send a request to Geoff Goodman at NoChildLeftBehindUpdate@ed.gov or call (202) 205-9191.
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Last Modified: 08/23/2003
