Residency Year

Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) recruits recent college graduates, career changers, and community members who are committed to a career in teaching and, with an intensive residency, prepares them for the realities of urban teaching. BTR's nationally emulated curriculum marries a year-long, in-school residency with master’s-level coursework tailored to Boston’s schools.

In-School Residency

Residents spend four days per week working with collaborating teachers in their host school. Unlike the traditional one-on-one teacher mentoring model, BTR clusters residents with teams of collaborating teachers, who offer a range of expertise and classroom experiences. Residents take increasing responsibility for leading instruction over the course of the year. The collaborating teachers support residents to develop and implement curricula, meet the diverse learning needs of students, and analyze student achievement data.

In addition to their classroom responsibilities, residents spend three “flex hours” with BTR's Clinical Teacher Educators per week. They use this time to participate in instructional rounds, practice for performance gateways, or take part in coaching groups and seminars. 

Masters-Level Courses

During the school year, residents take a course one afternoon or evening per week, participate in a weekly, school-based seminar, and attend a full day of classes each Friday. Residents also participate in a two-week winter session and take full-time coursework the summers before and following their residency year. All of the courses are designed and taught by BTR. They integrate research and theory about best practices in teaching with the experiences residents have in Boston classrooms.

Residents register at UMass-Boston to earn credits toward a Master of Arts in Teaching.

BTR's Unique Approach

BTR's curriculum is built to address four core ideas about quality teaching:

1. Student learning is what matters most. During their school-based practicum and in seminar classes, residents collect evidence of student learning through observations, assessments, and examinations of student work. They learn how to use this data to optimize instruction for each student.
2. Effective teachers make deliberate, data-driven decisions. BTR provides residents with ongoing opportunities to study best practices, try them out in the classroom, reflect on the results, adjust, and try again. Residents continually consider the research, rationale, and data behind their decisions about curriculum and instruction.
3. Public collaboration around teaching practice improves teaching quality. Residents reflect on and refine their practice through collaboration with peers, collaborating teachers, and other practitioners. They participate in instructional rounds, where they observe master teachers and then debrief together. They also regularly review and analyze videos of their own and other teachers’ instruction.
4. Effective teachers must be able to address the needs of students with diverse learning needs. In addition to their regular coursework, residents complete the first of a two year track toward initial licensure in teaching students with moderate disabilities. Residents also become more skilled teachers of English language learners by participating in Sheltered English Immersion training.

Learn more or apply.