P R A C T I C E
P R O F I L E
Implementing an In-House
Approach to Teacher Training
and Professional Development
High Tech High, San Diego, California
SUMMARY
Charter schools, like all public schools, often have trouble attracting and retaining high-quality educators who subscribe to their mission and educational vision. One innovative solution is to offer teacher training and professional development on site. This enables schools to incubate aspiring teachers for a range of career options, from teaching positions to leadership and administrative positions. In this promising practice profi le, the National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance highlights the Teacher Intern Program and newly established GraduateSchool of Education of High Tech High (HTH), a charter school development organization in San Diego, California. The programs enable HTH to train educators in house to prepare them to work under the guiding principles that defi ne the organization’s schools.
BACKGROUND
One approach to training charter school teachers is to hire a management company or an outside consultant to train new employees who have graduated from or are attending a university-run teacher credentialing program. A far less common approach, used in High Tech High’s network of San Diego, California-area charter schools, is to combine credentialing program classes and teaching, so candidates can earn a full-time salary while completing their credential. As teachers earn their credential, they also are trained in HTH’s core set of design principles. This eliminates the need to separately orient new teachers to the school organization’s explicit educational vision.High Tech High was launched in 2000 by a coalition of San Diego educators and
business leaders. The roots of the HTH program and curriculum derive from the New Urban High School Project (NUHS), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education’s Offi ce of Vocational and Adult Education that ran from 1996 to 1999. High Tech High distilled the six design principles that came out of the NUHS project into three:
Promising Practice in:
Charter School Finance
Charter School
Governance
Implemented by:
State Policymaker
Charter Authorizer
Charter Operator
Other
Inside:
Implementation Details
Impact
Lessons Learned
Additional Comments
Useful Resources
Contact Information
intellectual mission. In addition to these three principles that respond directly to the needs of students, HTH has informally adopted a fourth design principle, teacher as designer. This additional principle aims to empower individuals with a passion for and knowledge of teaching to acquire authorship and ownership over the curriculum.
IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
Originally started as a single charter high school in San Diego, HTH has evolved into a school development organization with a growing portfolio of charter schools spanning kindergarten through twelfth grade. HTH has eight school sites operating for the 2007–08 school year in San Diego County: fi ve charter high schools, two charter middle schools, and one charter elementary school.
Chief operating offi cer Jed Wallace reports that as the network of schools grew, an unanticipated issue arose. HTH generally was able to attract strong candidates to teach at its schools, but it was in danger of “losing that talent” if candidates had to “go across town” to get their credential from a traditional university source. In the late 1990s, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) revised its rules to enable charter schools with local education agency (LEA) status to operate their own credentialing programs, as districts can do. HTH decided to take advantage of this rule change. The charter school organization believed that offering its own credentialing program not only would help in attracting and retaining strong teaching candidates, but also would help in transmitting to candidates the organization’s design principles and pedagogy. Even though some teachers arrived with a credential, housing a credentialing program at HTH meant it could “maximize the collective knowledge” by spreading ideas throughout the network of schools. Conversations spurred in the credentialing program would
fi lter out to all teachers, creating an “engine of perpetual improvement.”
In 2004, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing granted HTH the authority to certify teachers. The HTH Teacher Intern Program operates as a partnership between High Tech High and the University of San Diego; university faculty members provide advice on program content and teach some courses, while HTH staff members are responsible for teaching most classes. The goal of HTH’s teacher credentialing program is to “prepare
technical and academic education while creating a sense of community engagement and responsibility” (www. hightechhigh.org). HTH offers certifi cation in mathematics, science, English, history/social studies, Spanish, Mandarin, and art, subjects aligned with the University of California entrance requirements. Program candidates must fi rst be hired by HTH as an intern as well as pass the California Basic Skill Test (CBEST) and the California Subject Examination for Teachers (CSET), or an equivalent waiver program; these requirements are consistent with California’s credentialing and employment laws for prospective teachers.
The Teacher Intern Program provides the equivalent of a 120-hour pre-service program and 600 hours of training and practice teaching over two academic years. Candidates complete 17 courses, as per CCTC requirements. In the fi rst year, candidates are paired with a mentor teacher at HTH and take classes two days per week, in addition to teaching at an HTH site full time. In the second year, candidates teach full time and also complete the requirements set forth in the California Teaching
Performance Assessment, a prerequisite to earning a
preliminary single- or multiple-subject teaching credential in the state.
HTH’s credentialing program and traditional teacher credentialing programs differ in two important ways. First, the HTH Teacher Intern Program includes rigorous coursework (e.g., on the philosophy of education, assessment strategies, and methods for teaching English-language learners), but it situates teacher training in HTH sites where candidates experience direct, on-the-job training. In contrast, candidates in traditional credentialing programs spend most of their time in university classrooms learning theory. HTH compares its approach with a medical residency program—students learn by working in the
fi eld. Second, any student teaching that occurs during a traditional credentialing program, while often minimal, is generally unpaid; in contrast, candidates in the HTH program earn full-time salaries and benefi ts during their
“We hope our approach will encourage small school districts to rethink whether they might have the capacity to operate a similar program. Doing so would help them immensely to prepare a teach-ing force to implement whatever their pedagogical vision might be.” —Jed Wallace, chief operating offi cer, High Tech High
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two-year commitment. Wallace notes that contrary to the “prevailing myth” in California that only large urban school districts have the scale needed to support the administrative cost of operating such a program, teacher credentialing embedded within successful K–12 schools is not nearly as expensive as other teacher preparation models. “Because we have not built up the equivalent of a full-scale university within our district, but rather situate our learning within our schools, our costs are far lower than other teacher intern programs,” he reports.
As word spread about the HTH teacher credentialing program, other charter schools in the area approached HTH to train their teachers. However, the CCTC rules specifi ed that HTH was limited to credentialing its own employees. To have a broader impact, HTH decided to open the HTH Graduate School of Education (GSE). The graduate school opened in September 2007, and it will offer a master’s degree in education in two concentrations: school leadership and teacher leadership. Wallace points out that other masters of education programs in the area do not offer courses in the pedagogical approach that HTH supports, so having their own graduate school will enable them to ground master’s candidates in the HTH pedagogy. Also, after operating for two years, the HTH GSE will be able to apply for accreditation from the responsible state agency—the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. This will enable HTH to expand its program to credential teachers who plan to work not only at HTH, but also at other charter and district-run school sites. In addition, accreditation will facilitate traditional unpaid student teacher positions at HTH sites, expanding the supplemental services these sites can provide to their students. Wallace observes that the charter organization does not know the full economic impact of the GSE, because it is just opening this year. Although a detailed business plan is still being developed, he predicts that the basic notion that costs will be lower due to the credentialing program being embedded within HTH schools will stay true.
IMPACT
The new paradigm of on-site teacher training and
professional development has boosted the number of highly qualifi ed teachers at HTH. Although still in its early years, the school organization has trained nearly 80 teachers through its program. The fi rst graduating class was in spring
2007, with 60 percent of the teachers being credentialed in math and science, subjects in which the state has a signifi cant shortage of qualifi ed teachers. Moreover, the credentialing program has attracted candidates from diverse backgrounds, including business and engineering.
The credentialing program also has enabled the school network to expand by alleviating the problem of attracting and retaining high-quality teachers. Wallace reports that for the 2007–08 school year, HTH had more than 2,000 applicants for 51 positions. He says the fact that teachers work full time while enrolled in the program is very attractive to candidates who would otherwise have to forgo salary and take out student loans to earn their credential.
HTH’s success has seen the organization grow from a single school with 10 staff serving 200 students in the 2000–01 school year to a network of eight schools with more than 200 staff serving approximately 2,500 students in the 2007–08 school year. Initially, when a new site opens, HTH staffs it with a cadre of experienced teachers from a pre-existing HTH site who are committed to the school organization’s design principles. Over time, HTH’s credentialing program imbues quality training to the new recruits, so each site has teachers well trained and committed to the network’s educational vision.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded HTH a replication grant to create a national network of similar schools. Through this program, which was launched in 2000, schools such as the Community Charter School of Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Mirta Ramirez Computer Science Charter School in Chicago, Illinois, receive technical assistance during their fi rst three years of operation, including teacher residencies and
institutes at HTH, teacher ambassador programs, and
on-site technical assistance.
LESSONS LEARNED
Implementation Challenges
HTH acknowledges several important implementation challenges to its teacher credentialing program. Wallace notes there were “costs of going fi rst”—HTH had increased scrutiny and a high level of accountability as the “test case” of in-house credentialing. Now that HTH has done the trailblazing, these challenges would likely not be as pronounced for others pursuing the approach. However,
in offering specialized training to prepare teachers to meet the needs of special education students or English-language learners. Wallace advises that a university partner can help supplement the in-house expertise in these areas.
Wallace also reports that implementation challenges have occurred in some of the Gates Foundation-funded replication sites in other cities. The primary replication challenges arose because some partner schools chose to deviate from practices that are very important to HTH (e.g., focusing on a common intellectual mission rather than tracking and doing away with selective admissions criteria). Back then, not being a charter management organization, HTH could only encourage voluntary adoption of its design elements by providing in-depth technical support and professional development; interestingly, these design elements became the base curriculum in the Teacher Intern and GSE programs. Although Wallace believes most of the schools that HTH supported turned out to be strong schools, such as the Community Charter School and Mirta Ramirez, some “went a different direction and we wanted to ensure greater fi delity to the practices that distinguish us.” Meanwhile, simultaneously, HTH had developed the capacity to operate its own charter management organization. “So it was a natural transition to begin focusing on replication of schools within our organization,” notes Wallace.
Keys to Success
HTH follows a deliberative process of building each new school “in brick,” securing ownership of each of its buildings and staffi ng each new site with a cadre of experienced staff from a pre-existing HTH site. This helps HTH ensure that growth occurs slowly enough to cultivate the pedagogical expertise and leadership capacity needed to develop new HTH schools. HTH believes that integrating a deep understanding of HTH design principles requires future leaders to spend signifi cant time in a setting where those principles are being universally and enthusiastically embraced.
HTH also credits its success to its culture of “ongoing refl ection.” A daily hour of planning and professional development time enables teachers to engage in continuous refl ection and improvement. In addition to this daily self-evaluation, HTH conducts an annual whole-school quality review. This process consists of both qualitative analysis, in which faculty engage in self-refl ection on the design principles and areas of need, and quantitative analysis, in
which faculty and others look at factors beyond test scores, such as student attrition and attendance, and the fi nancial viability of the organization.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
In January 2006, the California Board of Education granted HTH “statewide benefi t charter” status, the fi rst of its kind in the state. This gives HTH the authority to open 10 additional charter schools across the state. Two such campuses have opened for the 2007–08 school year, HTH North Country in San Marcos and HTH Chula Vista, south of San Diego.
USEFUL RESOURCES
“Bill Gates Get Schooled.”
BusinessWeek, 26 June 2006. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/ magazine/content/06_26/b3990001.htm
“High Tech High.”
Oprah Winfrey Show, 12 April 2006.
Available at: http://www2.oprah.com/video/200604/ tows/tow_20060412_l.jhtml
“Learning Where They Teach.”
Education Week, 18 July 2007. Available at: http://www.edweek. org/ew/articles/2007/07/18/43hightech.h26. html?tmp=509302099
Murphy, Victoria. “Where Everyone Can Overachieve.”
Forbes, 11 October 2004. Available at: http://www. forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/1011/080.html?r104 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, information on the
HTH model. Available at: http://www.gatesfoundation. org/UnitedStates/Education/TransformingHighSchools/ Schools/ModelSchools/HTH.htm
“We think our current growth approach gives us the best of both worlds. On the one hand, we are focused on slow, ‘built in brick’ growth of HTH schools in the San Diego region, which long term will provide us the scale neces-sary to be self-sustaining. On the other hand, our Teacher Intern and GSE programs give us the ability to disseminate our practices to a wider audience than has been previously possible.”
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Jed Wallace
Chief Operating Offi cer High Tech High 2861 Womble Road San Diego, CA 92106 619-243-5006
www.hightechhigh.org
Jennifer Husbands Director
HTH Graduate School of Education 2855 Farragut Road
San Diego, CA 92106-6029 619-398-4902
This Profi le is one in a series that highlights promising practices in charter school fi nance and governance implemented by state policymakers, charter authorizers, and charter operators across the country. Promising practices are selected from nominations received by the NRC on the basis of innovativeness, evidence of positive impact, and potential for transferability and usefulness. The NRC has not conducted program evaluations of the initiatives profi led and does not endorse particular policies, practices, or programs.
The contents of this Profi le were developed under a grant from the Department of Education (Grant No. U282N060012). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.
To nominate a promising practice for inclusion in this series, go to
