New Program bringing more Than 20 Outstanding Recruits to State's Highest-Need Classrooms
Delaware Teaching Fellows will strengthen the state’s teaching force by offering another alternative pathway for talented professionals and recent college graduates to teach in high-need schools and subject areas.
The Delaware Department of Education today announces the inaugural class of Delaware Teaching Fellows (DTF), a highly-selective program designed to recruit, select, train, and support accomplished professionals and outstanding recent college graduates to teach in the state’s highest-need schools. The new program is a key component in the state’s Race to the Top plan, which includes specific goals around the recruitment, development and retention of effective teachers.
After an intensive summer training program that includes leading a summer school class under the mentorship of a seasoned educator, this first class of more than 20 Fellows will teach math, science, English, and special education this fall to middle and high school students in all three Delaware counties. Throughout the year they will continue to receive close mentorship and support in the classroom while also taking classes at Wilmington University to earn their certification.
“Our high-need schools need to be competitive in attracting high-caliber educators,” Former Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery said. “Their students need even more teachers who believe in them and who won’t be satisfied until all achievement gaps are closed.”
Out of 370 applications received this spring, DTF admitted only 7 percent of those who applied. Fellows earn a $2,250 summer training stipend upon completion of their summer school teaching experience and five weeks of rigorous training during which most Fellows spend between 12 and 15 hours working each day. The five-week training concludes Friday and will be commemorated at a "Closing Ceremony" from 1 to 3 p.m. at Wilmington University in New Castle. The media is invited to attend. Please RSVP to Christopher Ruszkowski, deputy officer in DDOE’s Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Unit, at cruszkowski@doe.k12.de.us.
The Fellows who will begin teaching this fall represent a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences: 37 percent of the cohort is non-white and 25 percent is relocating to Delaware. Of the cohort, 46 percent will teach science and math, 21 percent will teach special education and 33 percent will teach English. The majority, 17 Fellows, decided to change careers to teach in Delaware’s highest-need schools.
James Smith, for example, relocated after Hurricane Katrina and attended University of Delaware, where he earned high honors. He served as an undergraduate tutor in English and worked one-on-one with special needs students. Originally from Louisiana, he previously worked as an entertainment editor for a local paper and volunteered with victims of Hurricane Katrina. This summer, Smith is completing his student teaching experience at Shue-Medill Middle School and will teach English as a special education teacher in the fall.
Marlene Strayer comes to the program with 20 years of professional experience in the biomedical research field. She has done gene therapy work at Thomas Jefferson University, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Baylor College of Medicine. Strayer earned her PhD from University of Nebraska.
“I have been thinking about teaching for a while [and] teaching in a high-need school is what attracted me to Delaware Teaching Fellows,” Strayer said. “This is an opportunity to be a part of a cohort of like-minded individuals who believe that the achievement gap can be closed.”
Strayer taught math in the summer school program at Bayard Middle School and will teach biology in the fall.
Chanel Thomas is a recent college graduate who earned her bachelor’s in biology at the University of Delaware. While attending school she worked as a certified pharmacy technician for three years. She has also served as a laboratory intern focused on experimentation of animal cells and as a tutor to high-need elementary aged students.
“The classroom is my chance to be creative and innovative,” Thomas said.
This summer, she taught math in Bayard Middle School’s summer school program and will teach earth science in the fall at Glasgow High School.
As part of their certification program and ongoing support offered by DTF staff and Wilmingtion University, Fellows will be supported and evaluated on an ongoing basis during their first year. At the end of their first school year, only those Fellows with a demonstrated record of classroom effectiveness will be allowed to remain in the program and continue working toward certification through DTF and partner Wilmington University. Fellows’ performance will be evaluated using the Assessment of Classroom Effectiveness (ACE), one of the first initiatives in the country designed to ensure that certification is awarded only to teachers who are on track to boost student achievement. ACE uses multiple measures to assess teacher performance in addition to successful completion of required coursework, with the greatest weight given to teachers’ measurable impact on student learning.
To learn more about Delaware Teaching Fellows, visit www.delawareteachingfellows.org Delaware Teaching Fellows was developed in partnership with The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by ensuring that all students get the outstanding teachers they need. As part of Race to the Top, this initiative has received support from the private sector and local foundations (such as the Rodel Foundation) in its start-up phase. And while the program is overseen by DDOE and operated by The New Teacher Project, Wilmington University is the state partner that helped turn this RTTT vision into a reality as TNTP’s coursework program provider here in the state of Delaware. TNTP has more than a decade of experience recruiting and training talented individuals to work in critical shortage subjects and high-need schools in more than 20 districts and states across the country. To learn more about The New Teacher Project, visit www.tntp.org
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Delaware's Department of Education is committed to promoting the highest quality education
for every Delaware student by providing visionary leadership and superior service.
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Contact Info.
Alison Kepner Delaware Department of Education 401 Federal Street, Suite #2 Dover, Delaware 19901 Phone: (302) 735-4035 Fax: (302) 739-4654 Email: akepner@doe.k12.de.us |
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