The Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) is launching a new, innovative program that offers future educators a transformative pathway to become a teacher that is grounded in hands-on classroom experience paired with high-performing mentors. The Aspiring Educator Pathway Program will adopt a model similar to a medical residency program that incorporates a collaborative team-teaching environment with more than 4,000 hours of experience in the classroom, compared to the typical 700 hours.
“The success of any school district relies on high-quality, highly-skilled teachers who have the resources and support necessary to thrive as professional educators and meet the needs of students now and in the future,” said Christopher Smith, Superintendent of Cherry Creek Schools. “We believe this new model will address common challenges facing teachers today such as student debt and burn out while providing a positive, personalized learning environment for students.”
The purpose of modeling the program after a medical residency program is to provide purpose-driven, hands-on learning experiences combined with relevant and specific academic instruction to prepare participants to be successful in their chosen career path. Successful residency programs offer a high degree of mentoring, which is a key element of the Aspiring Educator Pathway. The “see, do, teach” model has proven to be successful in medical residency programs and will allow CCSD to reimagine the teacher learning environment and set a new standard for excellence in education. The program was put together in collaboration with the Cherry Creek Education Association, which represents nearly 3,000 educators.
"The new Aspiring Educator Pathway program will revolutionize teacher preparation by immersing candidates in hands-on, classroom-based training from day one," said Brenda Smith, Chief Human Resources Officer. "By pairing aspiring educators with experienced mentors, we ensure they receive the guidance and real-world experience necessary to thrive in today's educational environment. This innovative approach bridges the gap between theory and practice, preparing our future teachers to make an immediate impact.”
“I’m never going to say no to something that is going to empower people to get better at what they do, especially in the name of children,” Teolyn Bourbonnie, Woodland Elementary School Principal said. “What I’ve seen is the commitment between the aspiring educators and the mentors of coming together and really working through different ways of learning so I think it’s fantastic now to see how both parties are really working together and empowering each other and now going forward with students, it’s going to be great!”
In partnership with the Community College of Aurora (CCA), CCSD Aspiring Educators will benefit from a lower tuition rate while receiving their degree and becoming PERA-eligible CCSD employees. The Aspiring Educator Pathway Program is launching its first cohort with 16 teacher apprentices across six schools in the 2024-25 academic year.
“This partnership reflects a true commitment to ensuring the social and economic mobility of our rising educators while also providing a pipeline of amazing talent. The mission alignment of our two institutions will ensure livable wages while pursuing their degrees, a high-quality education, and exceptional work-based experience to hone the skills next generation of educational practitioners,” Dr. Bobby Pace, CCA Vice President of Academic Affairs said.
In 2023, the Colorado State Legislature passed SB23-87 authorizing the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to develop a Teacher Degree Apprenticeship Program which offers an alternative route to teacher licensure by creating a teacher degree apprenticeship program. It requires many of the same elements of current teacher licensure programs such as obtainment of a bachelor’s degree, training programs approved by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), and structured on-the-job training. The bill allows CDE to issue a Teacher Apprenticeship Authorization to an apprentice who is employed by a school district or other type of school who is actively registered in an apprenticeship program and actively enrolled in an affiliated bachelor’s degree program from an accredited higher education institution. In this case, the accreditation for the program comes from CCA while licensure for teachers would come from CCSD.
Posted on 8/7/2024.
