Kansas Teaching Fellows

1. Kansas Teaching Fellows Making a Way

2. What is the Kansas Teaching Fellows Program? • Alternative certification program • Recruits outstanding professionals • Prepares new teachers for high-needs public schools

3. Introducing . . . • Laurie Boyd – KCK principal; Director of Summer Institute for Fellows • Lindsey Cegelis – PSU Coordinator • Rozanne Sparks – PSU School of Education • Howard Smith – PSU Chair of Curriculum and Instruction

4. The Beginning - 2001: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation The New Teacher Project Pittsburg State University Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

5. Northwest Middle School in KCK Through 2000 – as much as one-third of the teaching positions were filled by long-term substitutes. . . for years! 2001 – a deposit of seven Cohort 1 teaching fellows 2003 – addition of four Cohort 3 teaching fellows No longer a hard-to-staff building.

6. Course of Study for Master’s in Teaching36 credit hours • Summer 1 – Summer Institute • First three courses of program (teacher boot camp) • Fall 1 – 2 classes • Spring 1 – 2 classes • Summer 2 – 2 classes • Fall 2 – 2 classes • Spring 2 – 2 classes - Graduation

7. Program Components from 2001 - 2008 • Accepted only those for whom we had openings • Fellows quit their day jobs to attend seven weeks of Summer Institute, teaching in district summer school classrooms in the a.m. and attending course sessions in the afternoons • Fellows were provided with a $1,500 stipend during SI • Fellows started teaching in full-time positions the first Fall semester (just a couple weeks after completing SI) • Fellows who committed four years to KCKPS were reimbursed their tuition, amounting to a paid Master’s degree

8. Schools cut 3,700 positions Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 15, 2009 by Taylor Atkins • Kansas school districts have eliminated more than 3,700 teaching and non-teaching positions to save nearly $100 million, according to a school finances overview released earlier this month by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

9. Schools prepare for budget cuts Governor proposes $17.7 million reduction this year • Barbara Hollingsworth Published Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Kansas schools are bracing as budget news grows grimmer.

10. Summer 2009:Cohort IX Fellows Soldier On!

11. Results • Prepared 9 groups of first-year teachers • Placed in schools all members of the first 8 cohorts • 150+ Fellows still teach in KCK, impacting 12,000 children daily • Principals now clamor to interview Fellows for vacancies • The influx of Fellows coincides with KCK’s impressive academic progress over the past 9 years.

12. Influx of Fellows coincides with district success • Graduation Rate 2000-2007

13. Influx of Fellows coincides with district success • Math and Reading Increases 1996-2008

14. Dr. Jill ShacklefordKCK Superintendent • “The Fellows are a blessing to the school district. That program must have come out of heaven at a time when we were looking at 90 vacancies.” Kansas City Star Newspaper

15. Fellows Emerge as Leaders Emily Novak (4th cohort) and Sara Esther (4th cohort) receive grant awards they earned for their school.

16. Fellows Emerge as Leaders Robbie Howard (7th cohort) is awarded the Horizon Award for outstanding first-year teacher.

17. Fellows Emerge as Leaders • Jan Isabel (3rd cohort) secured and facilitated a grant to renovate the track at Northwest Middle School while attracting girls to engineering fields.

18. Fellows Emerge as Leaders Cecil Cristwell (3rd cohort) and Jarius Jones (1st cohort) founded the annual district Math Relays competition. Math Relaysmedal-winners from Arrowhead Middle School.

19. Fellows Emerge as Leaders • Instructional Coaches Cecil Cristwell (3rd Cohort) Susan Gann (2nd Cohort) Jarius Jones (1st Cohort) Monica Randle (3rd Cohort)

20. Fellows Emerge as Leaders • Building Administrators • Dr. Maritza Paul (2nd cohort) is Assistant Principal for Sumner Academy after teaching at Sumner and serving as Assistant Principal at Washington High School.

21. Fellows Emerge as Leaders • Amy Carlson (4th cohort) is Assistant Principal at Eisenhower Middle School after teaching at Eisenhower.

22. Fellows Emerge as Leaders • Tyrone Bates (2nd Cohort) works in Family and Student Services after teaching at Wyandotte High School and serving as Alternative Certification Coordinator.

23. Testimonials The Kansas City Teaching Fellows program was a life-changing experience for me. Not only did I receive much needed support during my transition from "Corporate America" to Education, I finally felt that I was serving a more meaningful and long-lasting purpose - to educate America's youth. I have yet to look back and regret the decision to leave my old life behind because becoming a teacher gave me a purpose. I enrich the lives of children daily, and no amount of money could ever bring me the satisfaction I get from the smiling faces of my students and their genuine spirits that thirst for knowledge. Holly Hutchko Wyandotte High School

24. Testimonials I’m not the teacher who has 30 years experience. They can go circles around me as far as theory and procedures. At my age (60), I do understand human nature. I used to train soldiers for high-stress combat missions. This is job has similarities to that one. Louie Gonzales J.C. Harmon High School

25. Report Envisions Shortage of Teachers as Retirements Escalate By SAM DILLON Published: April 7, 2009 Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report. The problem is aggravated by high attrition among rookie teachers, with one of every three new teachers leaving the profession within five years, a loss of talent that costs school districts millions in recruiting and training expenses, says the report, by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group.

27. Summer Institute • Instructional Design and Delivery • Standards-based units and lesson plans • Assessments for learning • High-yield strategies • Grading and record-keeping • Scaffolding and modifications

28. Summer Institute • Classroom Management • Procedures and Routines • Room Design • Community-building • Character Development • Discipline System • Fail-proof Environment

29. Summer Institute • Diverse Populations • Race in America • White Privilege • Elements of Culture • Communication Styles • Racial Identity Development • Generational and Situational Poverty • Youth Culture

30. Handouts Questionsand Answers