Teachers of color provide both mirrors and windows for their students. For some students, they reflect their culture, ethnicity, race, and religion. For other students, they provide a way through which they can experience new worlds, concepts, and voices. Without an ongoing commitment and an intentional program to support educators of color, we would lose their diversity and perspectives. In 2016–2017, as an effort to create more diverse faculty populations, the William Penn Charter School (PA) and another independent school in Philadelphia, already in a partnership, decided to offer a pilot program in which aspiring teachers of color could experience working in independent schools in a city setting. The goal would be to recruit, train, and retain them. The program began with three fellows, and at the end of the year, the schools dissolved the partnership because of pedagogical differences.
Interviews and focus groups with teachers, mentors, and school administrators who experienced the pilot program, however, led Penn Charter to team up with another Philadelphia school—Community Partnership School (CPS)—to build a similar program through Penn Charter’s Center for Public Purpose. In 2018–2019, the Urban Teaching Fellows (UTF) Program launched with two fellows.
Our Approach
Penn Charter, the fifth oldest school in America and the oldest Quaker school in the world, has 976 students in grades pre-K through 12; 33% are students of color, and 20% of the faculty are teachers of color. About 4 miles away, Community Partnership School, founded by Project HOME and Germantown Academy, has 100 students and all are students of color. Teachers of color make up 40% of the faculty. While the teaching experience in each environment is different, the schools are a good partnership because they are philosophically aligned in both teaching and learning.UTF accepts two to three fellows per year after a rigorous application and interview process. Penn Charter and CPS currently fund much of the program. Penn Charter’s Center for Public Purpose contributes additional funding from the Lehr Fund for Public Purpose Programming. The Sue Thomas Turner Quaker Education Fund is a grant that supports some of the professional development.
First-year fellows work in each school every other month. One month’s placement is an appropriate amount of time for a full unit of work, and it requires the fellows to be organized and to communicate frequently with mentor teachers. It also provides time for the fellows to become more aware of the context in which they teach, including the characteristics of each school community, the classrooms, and the students. Fellows get to know individual differences among students, learner characteristics, and those environmental factors that might affect the students’ learning and strategies that they can use in their teaching.
The second-year fellow’s experience is more in-depth. It builds in time for meetings with the UTF program coordinator, the director of the Center for Public Purpose at Penn Charter, and the director of curriculum and instruction at CPS. The fellow’s strengths, interests, and areas that need additional support are considered in the placement at an independent school for the following year.
Support Systems
The classroom experience is the centerpiece of the program. Equally important are the relationships fellows build through professional networks and with mentor faculty and peer groups, which contribute to their growth as educational practitioners. Fellows have a mentor in each school, and during the monthly rotation, first-year and second-year fellows work directly with teachers in the classroom. They help interpret school culture, and model and guide how to develop sound teaching strategies, as well as how to differentiate those strategies to meet the needs of the students in their care. Mentors help fellows reflect on their practice and refine strategies that will lead to successful teaching.Meanwhile, weekly professional development sessions with the UTF program coordinator and faculty at Penn Charter and CPS emphasize best practices in teaching, strategies for building authentic relationships and social comprehension, active learning, and models of effective practice. Second-year fellows attend many of these sessions but also engage in weekly meetings with the UTF coordinator to develop skills in lesson-planning, writing comments, and conducting parent-teacher and student-teacher meetings.
Fellows also have access to other educational training programs and opportunities. They currently have the option to enroll in the Jefferson Trauma Education Network, a series of monthly trainings and workshops offered to professionals, students, parents, and caregivers. We have learned that trauma can impact children’s learning, social interactions and relationships, and well-being. Recognizing and responding to the effects of all kinds of trauma in children is beneficial in creating a healthy classroom environment.
CPS and The AIM Institute of Learning and Research have a partnership that allows fellows to join a free yearlong virtual class called Pathways to Proficient Reading. Arcadia University offers three graduate credits for the successful completion of the course and a nominal fee.
And the learning continues through Penn Charter’s Teaching and Learning Center’s Lunch and Learn sessions, which uses a “teachers teaching teachers” format. Fellows are encouraged to share their experiences with faculty members from both schools. In the past, fellows have discussed resources and strategies used in the instruction of specific content in grade levels they currently teach; the value of acknowledging students’ stories in developing authentic relationships with them; and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion observed in each school, with possible responses to them.
The Results
The UTF program is in its infancy, and while there’s no hard data on the return on the investment, the fellows are already having an impact. The schools are reaping the benefits, too.Marvin Shelton was in the first cohort of UTF and for the past three years has been a middle school English teacher at Riverdale Country School (NY). Shelton often references the experience, the support, and the lessons learned, saying that no better form of professional development can quite prepare an educator with their identities—black, queer, and gender-nonconforming. UTF helped Shelton find a place in independent schools.
Another fellow, Caroline Yang, now employed as a first-year teacher at CPS, completed her fellowship last year, after one year in the program. It helped her discover her “why” and “how” as a teacher. She remembers the weekly cohort meetings and professional development sessions that allowed her to freely discuss issues and receive counsel. The immersive experience gave her the confidence she needed as a first-year teacher in her own classroom, and she also acquired the tools to continue learning.
Faculty members and administrators at both schools say the presence of the program has enriched the school environment as many of the teachers become involved in discussions about teaching and students, and fellows come into their classrooms to observe lessons. Fellows have used what they learned through their work in the two schools to enhance teaching strategy, school culture, and responses to the students. One fellow even led a social studies lesson and continued that discussion during lunch with interested students.
We continue to be more thoughtful in efforts to recruit, train, and retain faculty of color. Here’s what we’ve learned from the UTF program experience so far:
- The collaborating schools should have teaching philosophies and practices that complement each other.
- The program should continue to successfully attract candidates through a variety of community resources and colleges and universities throughout the country, including HBCUs.
- UTF candidates should have at least a bachelor’s degree (an education degree is not required); have worked with lower, middle, or upper school students (i.e. camp counselor or tutor); have experience in collaboration; show the ability to solve a variety of teaching challenges; be committed to feedback and professional growth; and be dedicated to the social justice dimensions of education.
- A rubric designed from elements of the Danielson Framework for Teaching serves as a helpful guide in evaluating the fellows’ developing skills.
- Professional contacts in the local academic and independent school community can share expertise through professional development sessions.
- Fellows enter the UTF program with different experiential backgrounds. Two fellows have demonstrated readiness to enter independent school environments as lead teachers after one year’s work in
the program.
The program continues to evolve, but others are taking notice. Teaching associates of color from Greene Street Friends School (PA) joined fellows last year for two professional development sessions. And other independent schools have expressed interest in becoming partners. Discussions continue as we determine how an expanded program can best meet the needs of students, fellows, and the schools—ultimately supporting diversity and inclusion efforts across the independent school community.
Program at a Glance
The first-year model of the Urban Fellows Teaching program puts aspiring teachers into two Philadelphia schools, alternating the school each month. The second-year model allows fellows to work in each school for half a year, with increased responsibility. The program requires fellows to:- prepare to approach teaching and learning through a culturally responsive lens;
- fulfill some of the duties of teaching associates in lower, middle, or upper school classrooms to develop their skills as educational practitioners;
- participate actively in the school communities through after school, evening, and weekend student and family activities;
- attend weekly professional development sessions focusing on areas of teaching growth and social comprehension;
- have a mentor in each school;
- share their experiences with faculty through Penn Charter’s Teaching and Learning Center’s Lunch and Learn Sessions, called UTF Café.