Both the NYC Teaching Fellows and NYC Teaching Collaborative are alternative certification programs designed to prepare individuals who are not certified teachers and have little to no background in education to enter the classroom through an expedited route.
- Each of these programs has a similar mission: to raise student achievement by providing an influx of high-quality teachers to the classrooms which need them most.
- Both are alternative certification programs operated by NYC Public Schools.
- Participants in both programs train in a NYC public school classroom in one of our Teaching Academies, DOE schools which have agreed to host pre-service teachers during their training.
- Participants in both programs will take university coursework towards a master’s degree in education that is tailored to support their work effecting change in high-need subject areas and to provide a foundation for a lifelong career in education.
Training Model
NYC Teaching Fellows provides an expedited immersion training experience that takes place in the summer. Fellows train for 7-weeks from June to August and are placed at a Teaching Academy and paired with an experienced Coach in their classroom during summer school to complete their classroom-based field experience. Fellows simultaneously begin master's degree coursework in education and attend Skill-Building Sessions led by NYCTF program staff. After their summer training, Fellows will then begin teaching full-time in their own NYC classroom while continuing their master’s degree studies.
NYC Teaching Collaborative provides a residency experience (similar to a medical student’s residency) for an entire school semester (4-5 months). Partner Teachers will be assigned a Teaching Academy and will learn from and work alongside a highly skilled Collaborative Coach in their classroom during the school year. This residency experience allows PTs to gradually take on more responsibility within the classroom, progressing from observing their coach at the start of training to teaching a whole unit by the end. PTs simultaneously begin master's degree coursework in education and attend Skill-Building Sessions led by NYCTC program staff. After the Collaborative experience, PTs will then begin teaching full-time in their own NYC classroom in September while continuing their master’s degree studies.
Hiring Guidelines
NYCTF and NYCTC program participants accept full-time positions in NYC public schools. Hiring guidelines are determined by the program, and are updated each year to meet the needs of NYC schools, but typically focus on supporting participants to teach in Title I funded schools, and in boroughs with the greatest hiring needs, including the Bronx and Central Brooklyn.