What Fellows Teach
DC Teaching Fellows is currently recruiting teachers in early childhood education, elementary, math, science, and secondary special education. Candidates interested in teaching one of these subjects must meet the content-area eligibility requirements outlined on our website. We may later identify opportunities for Fellows to teach art, ESL, and/or social studies, but Fellows interested in teaching those content areas MUST first be accepted into the 2012 cohort to teach math, science, special education or Spanish.
If you successfully complete our rigorous Pre-Service Training, you will enter the same job search process as all other candidates for DCPS. Successfully securing a teaching position is a process that requires Fellows to be proactive and flexible. As you begin your job search, DC Teaching Fellows will connect you with vacancy postings, share timely news about upcoming school and district job fairs, and occasionally coordinate interviews with principals who reach out to us regarding teaching openings at their schools. In addition, our team offers hands-on assistance to Fellows through job-search workshops, résumé review support, mock-interview events, and other related services. As part of the job search process, the most important thing for Fellows to keep in mind is that as part of the movement to close the achievement gap in D.C., Fellows will be working where they are needed most.
Admission to DC Teaching Fellows is the first step toward becoming a teacher in DCPS and does not guarantee that you will find a teaching position for the fall. In addition, Fellows must successfully complete our rigorous Pre-Service Training and master our Fast Start skills to begin teaching in the fall, and we anticipate that not all Fellows who begin training will successfully complete it.
A Typical Teaching Day
A typical teaching day in D.C. lasts about six and a half hours. In addition to instructional hours, all teachers spend time preparing lessons, reviewing student work, attending faculty meetings, or supervising extracurricular activities. During your first year or two as a teacher, you will also enroll in TNTP Academy to complete required coursework toward your certification. Balancing these priorities will be challenging, but your Academy coursework will be immediately relevant to your work in the classroom, so you can apply what you learn in the evening with your students the next day. Still, you should anticipate that Pre-Service Training and your first two years in the classroom will be very demanding as you strive to meet your own professional development goals and the achievement goals you set for your students.