NYC Specialized Teacher Enhancement Pathway FAQs – Teacher Participants About the Program

1. What is the NYC Specialized Teacher Enhancement Pathway (NYC STEP) program? The NYC STEP offers a supportive and school-embedded training program for current teachers to leverage their skills and experiences to meet the needs of specialized student populations in their school community. In our pilot year, NYC STEP will focus on two course sequences: one will support multilingual learners in bilingual settings and one will support secondary students (grades 7-12) with disabilities.

Successful completion of the program will provide participants with the opportunity to apply for credit equivalency and either a bilingual extension or an additional certification in secondary special education (see Q.11).

2. When will the NYC STEP program be offered? The program will begin in mid-August and take place during the 2019-20 school year.

3. Why should NYC DOE teachers apply for this program?

The NYC DOE has heard from educators that they are interested in furthering their own development and obtaining additional certification in order to expand their impact. However, current opportunities sometimes present financial and logistical challenges. NYC STEP provides teachers with an opportunity to invest in their own development, to take coursework grounded in best practices across the NYC DOE, and to better support students in their own school community. Finally, this programming is being offered free of charge during this pilot year.

Eligibility and Selection

4. What are the eligibility requirements to participate in this program?

Bilingual Extension Cohort (Spanish): o Possess a base certificate in Early Childhood, Childhood Education, Special Education, or a

secondary content area such as Math or Biology; o Be biliterate in Spanish; o Be a tenured educator in their current license area; and o Have an interest in teaching in a bilingual setting at their current school in the 2019-20 school

year.

Secondary Students with Disabilities: o Possess a Students with Disabilities 1-6 Initial or Professional certificate; o Be a tenured educator in their current license area; and o Have an interest in teaching special education in grades 7-12 at their current school in the 2019-

20 school year.

In addition to the above, participants in either cohort will need a principal commitment to be staffed in their

new setting in the 2019-20 school year.

5. What is the selection process for the teacher participant role?

During the SY2019-20 pilot year, the NYC STEP program will be limited to 25 slots for each cohort (Bilingual

Extension and Secondary Special Education). The following factors will be considered in the selection process:

The teacher’s application;

A fluency screen (for applicants to the Spanish Bilingual Extension cohort);

The school’s needs and what program supports are available in their district; and

The program’s ability to create geographical cohorts.

By July, teacher participant candidates and principals will be notified if they have been selected to participate

for the 2019-2020 school year.

6. How can NYC DOE teachers apply for the NYC STEP teacher participant role? Interested and eligible teachers can complete an online application. Please submit the application by the

priority deadline, Friday, May 24.

The Program Experience

7. What does the training experience look like for teacher participants? Teacher participants will complete blended learning coursework (online coursework and job-embedded training) beginning in mid-August 2019 and participate in training throughout the upcoming school year. The program experience will include:

Self-paced online modules (3-6 hours/module);

Four cohort in-person sessions after the school day (~2 hours/session);

Bimonthly classroom visits and debriefs with a NYC STEP Facilitator (~2 hours/session);

Four practicum assessments (3 hours/assessment);

Four classroom visits from a NYC STEP Evaluator; and

Regular support and communication with STEP throughout the school and program team throughout the school year.

Teacher participants will begin the 2019-2020 school year in their new classroom setting at their current school and will receive support from a NYC STEP Facilitator who is an experienced teacher. To successfully complete the coursework, teacher participants will be required to demonstrate instructional knowledge to support multilingual learners in a bilingual setting or secondary students with disabilities (see Q.10).

8. Will training be at a specific location or is it all online?

Training will consist of a combination of in-person and virtual events and modules. Detailed information on in-

person locations will be shared with candidates who are selected for NYC STEP.

9. What will a school day look like for teacher participants?

As a participant, a teacher’s school day will look the same as it does now. Teacher participants will be

expected to do the following:

Teach partial/full days in the classroom of their new student population;

Participate in all school-based meetings related to their role as a teacher; and

Utilize opportunities to do intervisitations with their NYC STEP Facilitator to share best practices.

Outside of the school day, teacher participants will participate in online coursework to support them in

building the content knowledge and skills to support them in the classroom. At regular intervals throughout

the year, teacher participants will come together in person with their cohort of other participants and their

instructor to explore problems of practice and learn from peers. Four times throughout the training

experience, an NYC STEP Evaluator will visit the teacher participant’s classroom and observe a lesson. The

Evaluator will also debrief the observation with teacher participants and provide feedback.

Program Completion

10. How can teacher participants successfully complete the program? In the pilot year, teacher participants will receive an overall “recommend”/ “not recommend” decision based

on the following components:

1) Regular coursework submissions (e.g., modules, lesson plans, practicum assessments) scored against a rubric;

2) Observations conducted by external evaluators based on a subset of The Framework for Teaching Components;

3) Student work analysis (i.e., evidence of student impact); 4) Professionalism and attendance in the program; and 5) Maintaining a good standing as a NYC DOE teacher of record.

NOTE: This program is separate and apart from a teacher’s development and evaluation process at their school.

Certification and Licensing

11. Will teacher participants earn certification at the end of the program? The NYC DOE is working to secure accreditation of NYC STEP through the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) in order for participants to get credit equivalency. If the NYC DOE is successful, participants would then be able to apply the credit equivalency towards an extension or additional certification through the “Individual Evaluation” pathway.

12. Are teacher participants required to pass Content Specialty Tests (CST)? All teacher participants will be required to take and receive a passing score on the following exams by

December 31, 2019. Participants in the pilot year will be reimbursed for the cost of taking the certification

exam the first time.

Bilingual Cohort: BEA – Spanish (204).

Secondary Students with Disabilities Cohort: Multi-subject: Secondary Teachers CST (241/242/245).

13. Will participating in NYC STEP impact a teacher participant’s current license or seniority?

Secondary Special Education Cohort—Participants will see no change in their license area, nor will they experience any change in their seniority status as a result of participating in NYC STEP. Teachers in the Secondary Special Education Cohort will accrue years of service in their license area just like other NYC DOE teachers.

Bilingual Extension Cohort—Participants in the Bilingual Cohort will remain under their monolingual license area for the duration of the program while they are in a bilingual assignment (this is similar to how university-based extension programs work). Teachers who successfully complete the NYC STEP program will be staffed under their new license once they receive NYSED certification. Teachers participating in the Bilingual cohort will not experience changes in their seniority as a result of participating in NYC STEP. Similar to university-based extension programs, teachers under a monolingual license working towards a bilingual setting will serve a one-year tenure probationary period after they:

o Successfully complete the NYC STEP program; o Apply for and receive their Bilingual Extension; and o Are placed in a bilingual assignment.

In the pilot year, teacher participants who successfully complete the NYC STEP will be able to apply for NYSED

certification through the “Individual Pathway” option once the NYC DOE completes a NCCRS review (see Q.11),

which will allow teachers to receive credits retroactively.

Other FAQs

14. What subject areas will I teach after completing the NYC STEP program? The goal of NYC STEP is to provide teachers with skills and certification to extend their impact. While not

required, we strongly encourage teachers to continue teaching in their new content area or grade band after

successfully completing the program.

15. Will I need to switch to another school after completing the NYC STEP program? No. NYC STEP is designed for teachers to continue to serve in their current school community.

16. What does it cost to join the program?

In the pilot year, there is no cost to participate in the NYC STEP program.

17. Will teacher participants receive a salary differential?

Teacher participants who earn college equivalency credits through the successful completion of NYC STEP will

have the opportunity to apply for a salary differential just like other teachers who earn college credit or P-

Credits.

18. What is the best way to contact the program? Any questions about the program can be email to nycstep@schools.nyc.gov. A program representative will

reply within 24-48 hours of receiving the email.