December 2023
Alliance Newsletter
DO YOU REMEMBER?: Teachers Who Touched Our Hearts
In this season of hope and reflection, our City Teaching Alliance staff, faculty and educators are thankful for partners like you for your shared belief in and support of our mission to improve educational and life outcomes for children in our urban schools through effective, culturally responsive teaching.
Here’s what YOU made happen this year:
- Nearly 1,400 City Teaching Alliance participant-teachers and school-based alumni reached over 59,000 students in SY22-23
- 110 new aspiring educators were placed in Baltimore, Dallas, DC, and Philly classrooms this fall to complete SY23-24 residencies
- Early applications to City Teaching Alliance are on the rise for SY24-25 following the launch of our new branding this summer
As a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, we rely on public support to help us accelerate student achievement and disrupt systems of racial and socioeconomic inequity. In this season of giving and gratitude, we are asking our supporters and friends to help us bring even more exceptional teachers to our urban classrooms. Our end-of-year annual appeal campaign is underway, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to honor that special teacher in your life with a donation in their name.
Moreover, a generous benefactor and champion of City Teaching Alliance has pledged to match all donations between now and January 10th up to $25,000, DOUBLING the impact of every dollar donated. All gifts will support aspiring career educators on their four-year journey to become a child’s favorite teacher.
“I love seeing kids grasp a skill. I love seeing them be challenged and giving them the scaffolding. I love being able to see when kids doubt themselves the most – that they know the answer but just didn’t realize it. I love allowing kids to see the potential they didn’t know they have.”
—First-Year City Teaching Alliance English Language Arts Teacher, 7th Grade
We are honored to serve the children of Baltimore, DC, Dallas, and Philadelphia, and proud of the talented and committed educators who are transforming academic and life outcomes for our students at classroom, school, and community levels. You can join us in our mission to empower, equip, and inspire these life-changing educators by making a secure donation online or by including us in your employee giving, donor advised fund, or trust and legacy planning. And if you have already made a gift, we ask you to please forward this newsletter to those who share our vision for an effective, equitable education for every child.
Thank you for being part of this extraordinary movement to empower educators and transform futures!
#BMEC2023: Building Community, Connection, & Momentum Among Black Men in Education
City Teaching Alliance representatives, current educators, ambassadors, staff, and faculty convened for learning, connection, and celebration at the Black Men in Education Convening (BMEC) in Philadelphia last month, including 26 Black men from across our four sites whose registration, travel, and lodging were fully sponsored through our Black Educators Initiative.
Hosted by the Center for Black Educator Development, BMEC participants enjoyed “distinguished speakers, lively panels, and targeted workshops to inform, inspire, and energize their commitment to serve as Black educator activists and improve outcomes for their students.”
Our educators and team immersed themselves throughout the weekend in a wide variety of timely topics including STEM; Curriculum, Instruction and Student Support; Leadership and Policy Making; Physical, Mental and Social-Emotional Health and Wellness; Parent and Community Engagement; and Professional Learning and Development.
The weekend was filled with learning, community, and connection, and was a testament to the leadership, vision, insight, and thoughtfulness of our newly-expanded Black Educators Initiative team and the tremendous work of our partners at the Center. And in case you missed it: City Teaching Alliance ambassadors Ahmad Richardshon (Dallas Cohort 2021), Ca’Marea Snipes-Thomas (Dallas Cohort 2022), and Devante Woodson (Baltimore Cohort 2020) did a phenomenal job of capturing the magic of #BMEC2023 on social media! You can share in the experiences and reflections of these remarkable educators by visiting our Instagram page.
THANK YOU!
On behalf of the staff and leadership of City Teaching Alliance, THANK YOU to everyone who supported our organization on Giving Tuesday!
We are grateful for every dollar invested in the future of our students and thankful for your continued advocacy. The reach of our movement is expanding by leaps and bounds, and our Alliance family is growing, because supporters like you are helping to amplify our voice.
Thank you for your trust in our stewardship, your support of our teachers, and your conscientious investment in the futures of our children and our communities.
JOIN THE ALLIANCE!
City Teaching Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization built on community collaboration, and there are so many ways you can help us achieve our mission!
CALLING ALL CORPORATE PARTNERS!
Do you or your partners serve and support teachers, college students, or young adults entering the workforce? Are you committed to ensuring all children have access to a quality education and being a part of creating a more equitable society? If so, let’s talk today!
We have numerous sponsorship opportunities that provide necessary funding for our program, and we offer exciting opportunities for collaborative promotion of your business or brand.
EMAIL US
OUR 2024 COHORT ARRIVES IN 6 MONTHS!
Do you know an aspiring teacher? They can apply here TODAY!
Our next deadline for this application year is January 16th.
City Teaching Alliance is more than a teacher preparation program – we’re a comprehensive preparation and development pathway with more comprehensive coursework and personalized support than any other teacher preparation program in operation today. Our teachers complete a full-year in-classroom residency prior to leading their own classrooms, earn a master’s degree from American University School of Education, and become dually certified to teach in a core subject area (elementary education, secondary English, or secondary math) and special education*. Additionally, we facilitate 85+ hours of coaching support over the first three years in the classroom, provide a growing suite of wraparound services and resources to facilitate whole-educator well-being, and nurture a vibrant learning community of lifelong practitioners.
*Our Dallas site also offers certification in English as a Second Language
ALLIANCE HIGHLIGHTS
CELEBRATING Special Education Practitioners
National Special Education Day falls on December 2nd each year, but at City Teaching Alliance, every day is an opportunity to invest in this crucial area of teacher expertise and practice.
One of the many features that sets us apart from other teacher preparation and development programs is that every single one of our educators is prepared for full dual teaching licensure in their core subject of choice *and* special education. It’s essential that we prepare the educators entering our communities’ classrooms to deliver differentiated and individualized instruction, regardless of their day-to-day instructional role.
“Every teacher must be a special educator; they must all have the skill to identify when a child is struggling and differentiate support so that they can reach their full potential. By training our teachers in general education and special education, we are maximizing their ability to do this for all children in service of our mission and vision.”
—Kenneth McCants-Pearsall, Chief Program Officer
Every child comes to school with unique assets, strengths, learning styles, and areas of growth, and among the 15% of public school students nationwide who qualify for special education services, the majority are in general education settings for most or all of their school day. Moreover, special education practitioners play a unique role in our schools; they are often at the forefront of innovation, collaborating with families and community organizations to create inclusive learning environments that celebrate neurodiversity, from embedding adaptive tools and technology to fostering classroom cultures that recognize and uplift the many ways our students express their knowledge and talents.
“I decided on City Teaching Alliance after a slew of interviews from other programs. After researching [City Teaching Alliance], their core values seemed to align with mine. They were very invested in the livelihood of their teachers and they were very invested in how that support system that they have for their teachers transcends to the students… they were really wanting to create a high-quality, holistic person [who is] able to go out into any community and be able to adapt and cultivate students in a way that [is] creating advanced citizens, [because] that’s what we want – we want to be able to create people who are going to be assets to our country and assets to our communities.”
—Corderius A., City Teaching Alliance Cohort 2019, Middle School Special Education Inclusion Teacher
We are proud to honor the leading work of our educators, faculty, and coaches in this field, and to chart a course forward in teacher preparation and development that centers special education knowledge, mindsets, and skill sets as a non-negotiable part of every new teacher’s toolkit.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that guarantees a free and appropriate public education to all students with disabilities. IDEA requires that schools develop an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for each student with a disability, outlining the student’s specific needs and how they will be met.
- In 2022, there were 7.3 million students receiving services pursuant to the IDEA in the United States. This represents 15% of all public school students.
- The number of identified students with disabilities has been steadily increasing over the past few decades. Drivers have included increased awareness and identification of disabilities, broader inclusion under IDEA, and improved medical care and survival rates for children with disabilities.
- The most common disability identification among students receiving special education services is specific learning disabilities, representing 32% of identified students. Per NCES, nearly 3 in 4 students with specific learning disabilities spend 80% or more of their time in general education settings.
We hope you will stay connected with us, our students, our educators, and our schools as we – and our growing network of powerful practitioners – continue to learn, innovate, and co-create the future of teaching and learning in our communities.
We will never share our mailing lists with outside organizations.
Please help us grow our City Teaching Alliance (formerly dba Urban Teachers) family by sharing this newsletter with your friends, business partners, and community thought leaders. City Teaching Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (EIN 27-0989006). To learn more about us, visit our website at CityTeachingAlliance.org or Click Here to donate.
Donations can also be mailed to:
City Teaching Alliance
8 Market Place
Suite 410
Baltimore, MD 21202
Text-to-Give: INSPIRECHILDREN to 44-321
Contact Lyn Rumage at 410-417-9429 or Lyn.Rumage@cityteachingalliance.org for planned giving, Donor Advised Funds, trusts, or legacy gifts.
Follow us on social media!
