Teaching Academies are autonomous schools within BPS that use an alternative staffing model and data driven practices to advance student learning while preparing outstanding new educators and leaders for Boston through Boston Teacher Residency.
Residents work side by side with experienced colleagues to implement research based practices, examine their impact on student learning, and refine instruction until every child is successful. We run two Teaching Academies: Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School and Dearborn STEM Academy.
In Teaching Academies, we have redesigned how educators and staff are organized, in service of student learning. Just as teaching hospitals rely on teams of professionals with differentiated roles—nurses, supervisors, interns, residents, and attending physicians—Teaching Academies are structured around teams of individuals with different expertise and experience levels who work together. Teaching teams, like medical teams, use a common and accepted system of data-driven practices and tools to work effectively and coherently towards common goals.
We align our practices, routines, and structures for adult learning to focus on student needs. As teachers investigate their practice, they make their reasoning public so that teachers, administrators, and the greater education network can learn and grow together.
As learners, all teachers respect the learning process, common misunderstandings of content, and the cognitive struggle required for deep understanding of new material.
Features of a Teaching Academy
- A coherent system of ambitious instruction that consistently engages all students in rigorous content.
- Teachers and Directors of Instruction use data to improve instruction and intervention.
- Flexible staffing and student grouping that ensure that students are matched with the right instruction at the right time.
- Novice teachers serve as part of a team of adults who take collective responsibility for student outcomes.
- Dudley Promise Corps members provide quality academic support.
- Instruction is managed by a team of educators rather than a sole classroom teacher.
- Administrators nurture constructive partnerships with families and communities.
