A Different Route to Teaching Enrollment in Teacher Residency Programs on the Rise by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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certification, usually through hen her principal graduate work. approached her Candidates integrate that one day in coursework with mentor2017, Lolita Fields was ships and real-life experience working in the after-school in the classroom alongside program at Appletree Parka lead teacher. In exchange, lands (1801 Mississippi Ave. residents commit to a role as SE), one of 12 campuses oplead teachers at a school for erated by the District Public one to three years. Charter school serving PreK3 and Pre-K4 students. “You’re really good at Program Sketches this,” Fields remembers the In DC, residency programs principal telling her. “You are offered by national should consider getting nonprofits operating in your masters and becoming the District, such as Teach a lead teacher.” for America or DC Urban But Fields wasn’t lookLolita Fields teaches class at Appletree Early Learning Public Charter School’s Teachers (urbanteachers.org). Parklands Campus. Courtesy: L. Fields ing to go back to school. Still others, like the Charter A few years prior, she Capital Teaching Residency had completed a Master’s even as more conventional higher-education (CTR, www.kippdc.org/ in Criminal Justice before retiring from the models are seeing a steep decline. join-our-team/capital-teaching-residency) were Prince George County Police Department. created by KIPP DC but have expanded to serve Two years later, she went to work with the Residency vs. Traditional Preparation multiple schools throughout the District. kids at Appletree, acting on her passion for When the pandemic hit in 2020, it exacerbated District program commitments and outimproving outcomes for the District’s youngest already existing national teacher shortages. The lines vary. Participants in Urban Teachers make residents. Why would she stop doing that to go pandemic stimulated a departure from teacha four-year overall commitment, with regular to school again? ing: in the first sixth months of 2021, about coaching and mentorship throughout. Their Then the principal explained: Fields wouldn’t 250 teachers left DC Public Schools (DCPS), a first year is in the classroom, then they start two have to leave the kids at all. She could join trend mirrored in DC Charter Schools. years of graduate-school classes funded by a stiAppletree’s Early Learning Teacher Residency Given this, training new teachers has taken pend. They receive full pay to lead a classroom program and get her master’s in teaching while on new importance. But, according to a 2022 through years two and three, focusing on career she worked in the classroom. study by Center for American Progress, enrollinterests in year four. “You couldn’t beat what they were offering,” ment in comprehensive college and university Appletree requires a two-year commitment, Fields said. “So I signed up.” education programs declined nationwide by 47 with one year of an in-school apprenticeship Appletree offers one of several alternapercent between the 2010 and 2018 school years. mixed with LEA-based learning and one year of tive teacher certification programs, or teacher However, enrollment in alternative teaching pro- accelerated graduate work with RELAY Graduresidencies, in the District of Columbia. These grams—those not based at institutes of higher ate School of Education (GSE) during their programs provide aspiring educators a training education—increased by 76 percent. second year. By the second year, students are fully alternative to college and university programs, A residency provides an opportunity for certified teachers leading their classroom with offering schools an additional pipeline to new candidates who already have a bachelor’s degree the support of instructional staff and mentors. teachers at the same time as they provide candiin another subject to make education their career The CTR origin comes out in the middle, dates training and support. by offering them an opportunity to learn on the with a three-year commitment required. The Enrollment in these programs is increasing job at the same time as they pursue teaching first year is an in-class fellowship with a mentor
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