In an ongoing effort to support Philadelphia’s K-12 schools by growing the number of certified teachers, Drexel University is expanding its teacher residency program, which helps current and prospective teachers obtain Pennsylvania teaching certifications. Supported by a $600,000 multi-year grant from the William Penn Foundation, Drexel’s School of Education will train and certify 25 teachers over the next three years using a teacher residency model similar to the one it launched with Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School in 2020.
Philadelphia has the highest teacher attrition rate of any county in Pennsylvania according to the most recent data from the Center for Education and Policy Analysis — losing more than 16% of teachers from 2022 to 2023. To stem the tide, and help Philadelphia schools recruit and retain certified teachers, the William Penn Foundation is funding Drexel’s Early Education Certification Initiative, which will support teachers working in partner charter schools to obtain their PA Instructional I Teacher Certification in Pre-K–4 or Special Education Pre-K-12. For this project, Drexel School of Education is partnering with String Theory Schools and KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools initially and is open to expanding to additional schools over the next three years to recruit participants.
“We are grateful for the William Penn Foundation’s commitment to strengthening Philadelphia’s educational system, and its ongoing support for Drexel’s Teacher Residency programs,” said Aroutis Foster, PhD, interim dean of the School of Education. “Together with our charter school partners, we are working to make this program a model for other organizations working in the space of teacher certification.”
The program is designed to be completed in one calendar year, beginning with a summer institute and running through the following spring term. Participants also have the option of starting in the fall or winter term as additional participants are recruited throughout the school year. Most participants will be classroom teachers working under an emergency certification status, and their coursework will include online and face-to-face experiences.
This hybrid model allows participants to serve full-time in a school classroom while successfully completing Drexel course requirements and experiences leading to Pennsylvania teaching certification. The teacher residency model is well-suited for participants with at least one year of experience working within a school community, who have demonstrated a commitment to a career in teaching.
“Addressing the teacher shortage in Philadelphia takes coordinated effort across the entire pipeline from early exposure and preparation to certification, mentoring, and retention,” said Jennifer Stavrakos, director of the Children and Families program at the William Penn Foundation. “We are excited to invest in Drexel's efforts to support more teachers obtaining Instructional I certification.”
Drexel’s residency program began in 2018 as a collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia to fund 20 students working toward a certification in middle school and high school math and science subjects. The program was expanded in 2020 to include a charter school partnership with Boys’ Latin and String Theory charter schools. Since the program’s inception, more than 200 teacher residents have earned their certification and moved on to teaching positions in Philadelphia.
William Penn Foundation’s support will expand the teacher residency to help about eight participants per year over three years earn PA Instructional I Teacher Certification in Pre-K–4 or Special Education Pre-K-12, leading to a total of 25 certified teachers prepared to serve Philadelphia’s many young learners.
“Together with our charter school partners, we are working to make this program a model for other organizations working in the space of teacher training and certification,” Foster said. “Our combined expertise and experience, building on Drexel University’s School of Education’s academic excellence and civic-minded ethos, represents a meaningful intervention in our city’s educational ecosystem.”
For more information about the program visit: https://drexel.edu/soe/academics/certifications/teacher-certification/teacher-residency-program/