NYC Teaching Collaborative is an alternative teacher preparation pathway into becoming a NY State certified teacher. The NYC Public Schools offers other alternative pathway programs, such as the NYC Teaching Fellows. In addition, the NYCPS recognizes that the most common pathway to becoming a certified teacher is by completing a master’s or bachelor’s degree that is recognized for NY State certification.
Our training program is a “package-deal.” What this means is that:
- Our program is designed for candidates who have completed very little or no previous university-based teaching coursework.
- Participants in our programs are assigned to a subject area based on whether they have completed the bachelor’s degree coursework required for that subject, per NY State regulations. The subjects that we offer each year are based on the hiring needs of the NYC Public Schools: typically these are Special Education, Mathematics, Science and Bilingual Education. For the most up-to-date list, please review this article. We cannot accommodate or assign you to individual subjects (ex. History, English, Art, Early-Childhood Education, etc.) where there is not a current large-scale hiring need.
- You will be assigned a university by our program based on the subject area to which you are assigned. You will not be able to choose your university since we often have only 1-2 universities for each subject area.
- You cannot tailor or omit any of the coursework required by your assigned university for your assigned subject area. You must fulfill all requirements regardless of whether you have completed similar coursework in the past.
- You will be required to pay for a portion of your university coursework (historically $12,000 for most Partner Teachers, $10,500 for those who elect to join our Bronx Cohort). You will not be able to pay a lower price based on having any pre-existing coursework or transfer credits.
- Most Partner Teachers take between 2-3 years to complete the university coursework required by our program. Our university partners will offer coursework outside of working hours, so that you can teach while completing your coursework. However, this means that you will need to attend coursework during the evenings, during the summer, and/or on weekends (depending on the university).
If you fall into one of the following categories, we encourage you to think carefully about what our program offers and whether it is the right fit for you:
- Completed 50% or more of the coursework and requirements needed to obtain teaching certification in New York State. (If you have already started a graduate degree program in Education, you would be required to quit that degree program when enrolling in NYCTC and none of the credits would be transferred to your NYCTC university.)
- Started an alternative certification program outside of the NYC Public Schools and earned university credits in education
Depending on how much coursework you have and what you wish to teach, you may find that our program is not the right pathway for you in terms of time, cost, and/or desired subject area.
If you fall into one of these following categories, you are currently NOT eligible to participate in the NYC Teaching Collaborative:
- Currently, hold teaching certification in New York or any other U.S. state or U.S. territory
- Previously held teaching certification in New York or any other U.S. state or U.S. territory that is now expired
If you have submitted an application but now feel that this is not the right program for you, please contact us through our Online Support Center and ask to have your application withdrawn.
If you are not eligible to participate in the NYC Teaching Collaborative but would like additional information about teaching pathways that may be more suitable for you, we encourage you to attend a Pathways to Teaching event held by the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality. You can find upcoming events by visiting the events page on TeachNYC.net.