Teachers College at Columbia University is launching a new program to help people earn an affordable master’s degree while apprenticing with experienced teachers in high-needs New York City classrooms.

Funded through a new U.S. Department of Education initiative to bring teacher education into the 21st century, the Teaching Residents at Teachers College (TR@TC) program is a 14-month graduate-level program.

Modeled after a medical residency, the new teaching residency at TC gives teaching students, or “residents,” the chance to implement ideas in a classroom setting, while receiving feedback and support from expert practitioners. Residents are simultaneously taking graduate level classes.

While other teaching residency programs also focus on bringing highly qualified, diverse people into the classroom as new teachers, the TR@TC program emphasizes secondary certification designed to meet high-needs students: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), teaching students with Intellectual Disabilities/ Autism, and Teaching Students with Disabilities (name change pending).

Program directors also express an interest in recruiting mid-career changers, Returning Peace Corps Volunteers and military veterans who are passionate about teaching in high-needs settings, among other prospective teachers.

Participants receive a “substantial scholarship” to Teachers College according to the program’s website, a $22,500 stipend, and health insurance. Upon completing the program, teaching-certified participants are required to teach for at least three more years in a high-need urban school.

Check out the Teacher Residency at Teachers College and read the announcement about the new program on TC’s website.

If you are considering a teaching corps, also take a look at the “Corps in the Classroom” links in the RIGHT-hand side bar of this blog, as well as the “Teaching” category in the drop-down menu on the LEFT-hand side of this blog, which offers introductions of a variety of corps.