Devonna Alatorre, a teacher-resident in a Math III class at Summit Tahoma high school, works with 11th graders. She’ll teach Math II there in the fall. Photo: Heather Vega
Summit Public Schools, a charter network that’s replicating its personalized and project-based teaching model, has created a residency program to prepare teachers to lead personalized-learning classrooms, I write on EdSource.
On Fridays, all teachers in training gather at a Milpitas office to work through a project-based, self-directed curriculum designed in collaboration with the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE). As part of the credentialing process, independent evaluators assess videos of their teaching and judge their ability to write lesson plans, choose instructional materials, design student assessments and analyze data. “Residents have unlimited time to revise their work, with feedback,” said Mark Rizkallah, a mentor in Summit’s residency program. “We try to model personalized learning strategies,” which can be challenging, even for adults. “Most haven’t experienced self-directed learning.”
Twenty-one teacher-residents in the 2017-18 cohort earned their credentials; 18 will be teaching at Summit middle and high schools in the fall. Summit is recruiting 50 teacher-residents for the fall, some of whom will be placed in traditional public schools that use Summit’s online platform and teaching model.