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Throughout the discussion about education in Massachusetts that has been taking place this decade, and through all the proposals and posturing, one point stands out: To better equip our students, we need to better equip our teachers.
One program that appears to be fulfilling that mission is UMass Boston's Teach Next Year partnership with Dorchester High School (DHS). In sum, this program places a dozen aspiring teachers in a classroom setting for a full school year while they also pursue their graduate studies. In contrast, someone pursuing a traditional master's degree would customarily be enrolled in a full-time two-year program that included one semester of student teaching.
According to June Kuzmeskus, the coordinator of the UMass Boston-DHS partnership, there are fewer than a handful of similar programs in the country.
The Teach Next Year interns take an intensive one-year course load in addition to teaching the full school year and participating in a service project at the school. One reason for the scarcity of these programs is that this schedule eliminates almost all possibility of even part-time work. Such a proposition is unappealing for most aspiring teachers, who are probably already carrying financial obligations from their undergraduate days. For Teach Next Year, however, grant money from the Trefler Foundation has proven to be the linchpin, providing each intern with a $10,000 stipend&emdash;perhaps just enough to cover living expenses, but it makes Teach Next Year a financially practical choice.
But when discussing why they sought a place in Teach Next Year, the interns don't mention such factors as stipends and graduate degrees. "What stuck out for me," says intern Earl Martin, "was the sense of constant support. There's support from teachers you liaise with, UMass Boston, support of the other teachers in the program, the administration at the school."
In a word, the program is about connections. The twelve interns all teach at DHS and take the same courses at UMass Boston. While they have their own disciplines, there is a camaraderie among them that isn't available in a typical program where a grad student teaches on his or her own. Another connection is that several of the DHS veteran teachers also serve as UMass Boston faculty members, teaching the interns in graduate courses.
But the program benefits others besides the aspiring teachers. "One of the great surprises is how much the veteran teachers are learning from the interns," says Pam Hilton, a program director at DHS. "I feel that we have had a true exchange of ideas. It really hasn't been a one-sided relationship."
Another teacher in the classroom can be a great asset in helping the students learn. A less tangible factor is the enthusiasm and fresh ideas these interns can bring. In a sense, they help connect the veteran teachers to new ideas and current teaching concepts.
When the interns begin to teach on their own in the second semester, it will also provide valuable time for the veteran teachers to pursue professional development and other opportunities that can help them improve their teaching skills.
In the meantime, the interns gain valuable experience teaching in an urban environment, which can present a unique set of problems. Before coming to Teach Next Year, Mindy Kessler taught at a private school for four years. "There are challenges here," she says of DHS. "But there were challenges at my other school. The challenges aren't more, it's just that they are different."
By most accounts the program seems great for both the interns and the veteran teachers, but what about the students at the school? This is where some of the most important connections are being made. Students seem to welcome the younger faces among the teaching staff. "She's a younger teacher," DHS freshman Dawn Sanders says of intern Mary Gleason. "She's easier to understand, and she also understands us."
One of the things that made Gleason an attractive candidate for the program was her background in science. "I was an environmental consultant," she says, "and I hated it." Then she began working with visiting students at science centers. "I would only see kids for two days at the most. What I wanted was that continual relationship with a class."
Kuzmeskus explains it was clear that Gleason could bring a sense of hands-on teaching to the program, something that hasn't been lost on Sanders and fellow freshman Tareckia Simpson. "She's made it more fun," says Simpson, mentioning as an example the time Gleason used actual animals&emdash; hermit and horseshoe crabs, a lobster&emdash;in a lesson on the ocean.
DHS Senior Joel Lamousnery also enjoys having the interns in the school. One of them has been helping him with his college applications, and he too finds it is easy to connect with teachers like Earl Martin. "He's a student too," he says, adding that he likes Martin's style of engaging the students with lots of questions. "Classes are more fun. He gets everybody involved."
Moreover, being at the school full-time from the start really helps the interns become part of the school environment. "It's only November," says Gleason, "and I'm surprised how much I feel I fit in here, how many kids I can recognize and say hi to."
With all the positive strides the program seems to be making, those behind the effort seem to realize that the bottom line is how much will the students benefit. Assistant DHS Headmaster Jack Leonard notes that as yet this question is unanswered.
But it will be answered: The program has an advisory committee, and throughout the year several efforts will be undertaken to collect feedback from teachers and students. DHS also is one of four high schools participating in a Brown University-based data gathering program designed to measure certain educational factors.
All this means that, as the program continues, the tools to help improve it will be there. For school counselor Joe Donohue, the success of having intern and veteran teachers working together and learning from each other is essential to quality education.
"This is not only about UMass Boston and Dorchester High," he says. "If we can't do this, this bodes very poorly for American education. We need to make this work."