Program Overview

The Inspired Teaching Certification Program is a 15-month teacher certification program that recruits, selects, prepares and support highly qualified individuals who wish to serve the children of the District of Columbia as teachers. The Inspired Teacher Certification Program prepares educators in three areas: Early Childhood, Elementary, or English Language Arts.

The program design includes considerable coursework as well as a supervised teaching practicum and ongoing mentoring:

• The program begins with a summer practicum, a seven-week induction experience that combines coursework and practice teaching.
• Upon successful completion of the summer experience and of all required exams, Inspired Teaching Fellows seek employment as a teacher in a District of Columbia public or charter school.
• Throughout the first year as a teacher, each Fellow is supported by an experienced teacher mentor who works to connect theory with practice as candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of an Inspired Teacher.
• Coursework for Fellows is ongoing throughout their first year of teaching and continues into the following summer.
• After program completion, Inspired Teaching will provide exiting participants who remain in DC schools with an additional year of mentoring.
  

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 Summer Practicum

One of the most exciting components of the Inspired Teacher Certification Program is the pre-service experience. During the intensive pre-service training or "Summer Institute," you will meet and collaborate with other Inspired Teachers, Inspired Teaching staff, and students from DC's traditional and charter public schools.

Participants in the program are required to attend daily training from 8:30 to 4:30, Monday through Friday, for seven weeks in the summer. During this summer experience, Fellows should also expect to have readings, assignments, lesson planning, and student work to grade in the evenings.

• The summer experience begins with two weeks of intensive coursework designed to jump-start candidates' thinking about teaching and classroom management.
  
  
• Next, during a four week summer school experience, teacher candidates will teach youth in grades K-12 while continuing their coursework. Through a local partnership, the Summer Practicum will give teacher candidates an opportunity to implement instruction that is challenging, engaging, and student-centered, while ensuring students achieve at high levels. With the support of a highly engaging curriculum, teacher candidates will create a learning environment where children thrive and where adults and children find joy in their work. Student learning experiences will consist of interdisciplinary, thematic projects that build on students' interests while addressing multiple grade-level standards adapted from District of Columbia Public Schools curricular maps. Each unit culminates in a student exhibition in which learners present and explain their work to adults in the community, including parents, other teachers, and invited guests. By leading these classes, Inspired Teaching Fellows will learn first-hand what classrooms can look, feel, and sound like when children are truly engaged.
• Inspired Teaching mentors will provide intensive support during the summer teaching practicum. Inspired Teaching mentors will collaborate with the teacher candidates regarding planning and instruction; observe instruction and interaction with students; and provide coursework. In addition, Inspired Teaching Fellows will be able to collaborate with their mentors daily during office hours outside of time spent in coursework.
• After the teaching practicum, Inspired Teacher Candidates will spend another full week together to help them translate their experiences into plans for a successful start in their own classrooms.
• Participants will receive a financial stipend for their work in the summer practicum. A portion of the stipend will be disbursed in mid-July, and the remainder will be paid in late August. Attendance at all summer practicum activities is mandatory. Participants who do not attend all training activities or do not otherwise complete the summer practicum will not receive a stipend.

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Coursework#

Inspired Teaching's unique approach to teacher education is highlighted in our innovative courses. Classes are 100% interactive; prospective teachers will be engaged intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

Participants take courses throughout the school year and into the summer after the first year of teaching. During the academic year, Fellows can expect to have class one evening per week and one full Saturday per month. Fellows take one course in the Fall quarter and two courses in all other quarters (Summer I, Winter, Spring, and Summer II).

Below we describe coursework for each of the three certification tracks in our program:

• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary Education
• Secondary English Language Arts

Early Childhood Education#
Teachers of young children accept a special responsibility for providing developmentally appropriate learning experiences and for communication and collaboration with students' families. To prepare effective educators for young children the Inspired Teacher Certification Program provides intensive coursework in child development, classroom management, and engaging pedagogy for children in prekindergarten through third grade. Supported by teacher mentors, Fellows participate in accelerated coursework that emphasizes child development, developmentally appropriate instructional design and assessment, and relationship-based classroom discipline and management throughout the summer practicum and during the school year. In the summer following Fellows' first year of teaching, coursework continues to address topics related to teacher professionalism and teaching exceptional learners.
The 2009* course sequence for Early Childhood Education is as follows:

Elementary Education# 
Elementary-level teachers accept a special responsibility for teaching the whole child. Teachers in self-contained classrooms are expected to be generalists to be able to teach a wide variety of subjects and content areas in age-appropriate ways. Coursework for candidates seeking certification in elementary education focuses on child development, content area pedagogy, instructional design and assessment, and relationship-based classroom discipline and management. In the summer following Fellows' first year of teaching, coursework continues to address topics related to teacher professionalism and teaching exceptional learners.
The 2009* course sequence for Elementary Education is as follows:

Secondary English Language Arts 
Secondary English teachers accept a special responsibility for engaging adolescent learners in literature and composition while continuing to develop their skills in comprehending a variety of texts of various sorts, including non-print resources. Academic-year courses will focus on effective curricular design, pedagogy, and assessment in secondary language arts. In the summer following Fellows' first year of teaching, coursework continues to address topics related to teacher professionalism and teaching exceptional learners.
The 2009* course sequence for Secondary English Language Arts is as follows:

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Mentoring#

Each Inspired Teaching Fellow will be paired with a mentor. Inspired Mentors are carefully selected classroom veterans who will act as "critical friends," engaging teachers in discussion and reflection, broadening their experience, and encouraging independence and risk-taking. Because each teacher's needs will differ, Inspired Mentors will spend a considerable amount of time with each Fellow, observing, offering feedback, and talking through the challenges that arise in teaching. Inspired Teaching views teacher mentoring not as an "apprenticeship" but rather as a professional collegial relationship rooted in ensuring that students and teachers achieve their full potential.

Mentoring continues into the second year of teaching.