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High Tech High's District Intern Program: Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning Through an Alternative Route

Fri, April 28, 8:15 to 10:15am, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Floor: Ballroom Level, Room 302 C

Abstract

This paper highlights an alternative, district-based teacher preparation program that is preparing teachers for deeper learning. In 2000, 4 years after a group of San Diego businessman and practitioners opened a new charter high school to provide students with deeper, more engaging, and relevant learning experiences, a California law passed requiring all charter school teachers to possess a credential. High Tech High (HTH) responded by creating the District Intern Program (DIP), which allowed them to prepare and train their own teachers using the same approaches it uses for its students. The DIP is a 2-year, alternative certification program, that is deeply embedded in HTH’s 13 elementary, middle and high schools.

Through an in-depth case study of HTH that included interviews of interns, program administrators, alumni, and mentors, we sought to better understand how the DIP prepares teachers to provide deep and engaging learning experiences for students. Following the interviews, we analyzed transcripts, identified patterns and themes, and reviewed effectiveness data and other program artifacts to assess how HTH prepares teachers.

Project-based learning is at the heart of HTH, which means interns must be comfortable with designing interdisciplinary, real-world projects. This type of approach requires teachers to shed the traditional sage on the stage role and shift to one that guides student learning through inquiry. Thus, every aspect of the DIP is designed to identify candidates who have the potential to work with a variety of students from different backgrounds (HTH is fully inclusive), and who truly believe all students can reach high standards. At the earliest onset, including the application and interview process, candidates are expected to teach a lesson with actual students using inquiry-based and Socratic approaches; participate as teachers and learners in a 2-day, accelerated project where they focus on student-centered approaches, use inquiry-based instruction, and facilitate group discussions, including using protocols. To further enhance learning, the DIP uses what they call putting it to practice—when interns learn about a new concept or practice during a course or from the faculty, they are expected to try the practice in their class the next day, or soon thereafter. More often than not, the practice is one that has been modeled for the interns, or one that they have had a chance to practice with their colleagues. Modeling is another important tool regularly used at DIP. Students and instructors repeatedly mentioned how important and helpful it is to observe or learn about a concept and then try it out.

This case study provides a unique look into a grow-your-own program that puts candidates in both the teacher and student roles to help them understand the student experience as a way of making them better educators.

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