PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Need and Opportunity

There is a profound shortage of highly qualified and effective teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in New York City, and currently, only 23.5% of ELLs in NYC graduate in four years. More ELLs graduate after five and six years, but the results are still very low. The ELL population is one of the fastest growing K-12 populations in the United States – currently there are 900,000 high school age ELLs and an estimated 360,000 are recently arrived immigrants. Their window of opportunity to successfully complete high school is quite narrow, given that they are faced with learning a new language in which they must comprehend rigorous academic materials and acculturate into a new society, all within four years.

The I-START program is designed to address this need by providing year long teaching apprenticeships in several of our highly performing International High Schools throughout New York City. After completing the program, apprentices will receive a New York State certification in TESOL and a Master’s degree in TESOL from LIU. Given the national need for highly qualified educators prepared to effectively teach the growing numbers of English Language Learners in our nation’s public schools, we expect this program to serve as a model for similar programs nationwide.

Pathway to Teaching Excellence

Internationals School-Based Teacher Apprenticeship, Recruitment, and Training Program (I-START) is an alternative teacher preparation and certification program designed and directed by the Internationals Network for Public Schools and Long Island University (LIU), in conjunction with the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), and the New York City Department of Education’s Empowerment Schools Organization. All constituents meet on a regular basis to reflect, improve, and (where necessary) redesign aspects of the program to better serve everyone involved.

As a member of Urban Teacher Residencies United (UTRU), this program seeks to inform and improve teacher education models around the country to deepen and advance the integration of theory and practice.

The program is designed around the following tenets:

• Like students, teachers learn best when they are asked to apply the theories, content, and skills they are developing in an authentic context.
• The division that has traditionally existed between teacher certification coursework and classroom practices is artificial and counterproductive.
• As with the medical profession, teaching is best learned by extensive study and practice alongside an experienced practitioner.
• Teaching is a complex art that takes time to master.
• Teachers who feel prepared and effective are more likely to stay in the profession.

* Apprentices commit to full participation in the Apprenticeship year and to four years of teaching in New York City Public Schools after the successful completion of the first year of the program.

 

YEAR ONE: The Apprentice Experience

In the first year of the program, participants serve as an apprentice teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) in an International High School and engage in project-based coursework that leads to full certification. Apprentice teachers will also work closely with an experienced mentor teacher at their International High School, becoming fully immersed in the school and team. As part of the I-START experience, apprentice teachers will partake in the following:

Immersion in the Internationals Approach:

• Design projects with the mentor teacher, team and other apprentice(s). Projects will focus on the core competencies the apprentice needs to develop in order to be able to implement the Internationals Approach.
• Participate in seminars to learn about the theories and research on which the approach is based.

Develop curriculum:

Work with the mentoring teacher to develop and implement standards-driven, interdisciplinary, project-based curricula that:

• Incorporate ESL bilingual methodologies
• Include multiple opportunities for language development in their subject area
• Are designed for learners who are heterogeneous in their linguistic and academic proficiencies
• Embed and support language learning within content-focused projects and activities

A school-based approach:

Participate fully in the life of the school by:

• Collaborating in an interdisciplinary planning and teaching team.
• Attending staff meetings and, if they choose, supporting extracurricular activities.

Assess students:

Measure student effort and learning habits through performance-based assessment.

YEAR TWO: Fellowship

After successful completion of the first year of the program, apprentices become full teachers of record in a NYC DOE school (under a Transitional B License). As participants assume full teaching resonsibilities, they also:

• Continue taking coursework through LIU
• Receive ongoing professional support: Attend Internationals Network-wide professional development events, and maintain a relationship with an Internationals mentor teacher, who will guide their professional growth in the context of their school community.
• Complete the certification program: Apprentices will receive New York State certification in TESOL and a Master’s degree in TESOL from LIU.
• Receive placement assistance: Internationals Network will coordinate hiring of successful residency graduates into one of our Internationals Network High Schools (openings permitting) or provide support in the apprentices’ placement in in another school in the Empowerment Schools network.

Benefits of Joining the Program:

• A Master’s degree in TESOL from Long Island University
• Eligibility to apply for New York State Teacher Certification
• Learning an effective model for ELL instruction in a supportive school environment
• Peer support, collaboration, and shared experiences with a cohort of learners
• Clinical experience with experienced mentor teachers
• stipend and full set of benefits the first year, NYC teacher salary and full health benefits the second year
• Tuition reduction (apprentices are responsible for only 1/3 of the LIU tuition)