The Kansas City, Kansas
Teaching Fellows began in 2000 as a partnership between Kansas City, Kansas
Public Schools, Pittsburg State University, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation. The program was developed and facilitated by The New Teacher
Project of New York to offset the lack of teachers for high-needs schools. The
Kansas State Department of Education approved the alternative licensure
program.
Between the years of 2000 and
2010, the KCK Teaching Fellows recruited high-performing individuals from other
professions to teach in the high-needs classrooms of KCK Schools. We prepared
and hired more than 200 teachers for Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools’
elementary and secondary classrooms during that time period. With Fellows, the
district was able to staff vacancies that had been filled by long-term
substitutes for many years.
In the early years of the
program, nearly every high school math and science department consisted almost
entirely of Fellows. During this same time period, the overall achievement
rates of the district rose from 3% to 60%. While the initial need was for
science and math teachers, over time, we also accepted Fellows for elementary
positions, and for all content areas, including English, Social Studies, Spanish,
Business, Fine Arts, and Family and Consumer Sciences.
At first, the school
community questioned whether alternatively certified teacher candidates could
perform as well as traditionally prepared educators. The teaching fellows’
first year was so successful that the school community began to embrace the
teaching fellows program as a way to provide a highly qualified teacher in
every KCKPS classroom. The selection process identifies candidates who have
demonstrated excellence and leadership in their career or educational
experience.
All of the applicants
selected participated in a six-week summer boot camp experience which included
teaching district summer school classes in the morning and taking graduate-level
classes in the afternoon or evening. The summer boot camp was taught by
district personnel who prepared these teacher candidates for teaching in high-needs
schools, and meeting the needs of our students.
Again, in 2016, school districts are beginning to feel the pressure
of another teacher shortage, not only in KCK but across the state of Kansas and
throughout the nation. KCKPS, with our Pittsburg State University partner, has
re-ignited our successful KCK Teaching Fellows program for the 2016-2017 school
year in order to make sure our students have the qualified teachers they need.
