How to Choose a Teaching Program

What is hands-on, pre-service experience? 

Pre-service experience refers to any teaching practice you get before you lead your own classroom. This experience can come in a variety of forms. 

Pre-service experience in traditional certification programs

In traditional bachelor’s or master's degree programs, your pre-service program typically includes one or two semesters of working in an experienced teacher’s classroom. This is usually called "student teaching" and often occurs during your final year.

Pre-service experience in alternative certification programs

In an alternative certification program, you’ll teach your own class while you earn your certification. Some alternative certification programs also offer pre-service practice (with an experienced teacher) for a semester or during summer school. Make sure you understand the hands-on experience components before you enroll in your program! 

Pre-service experience in teacher residency programs

Residency programs usually offer a full year of pre-service teaching experience. This includes some practice during the summer, followed by a “clinical year” working in a school full-time.  

Why is hands-on experience important? 

Teachers are more likely to feel prepared for their first year in the classroom if they get plenty of classroom experience as a part of their prep program. Opportunities to observe other teachers and to practice teaching can make all the difference for early-career educators. 

As a rule, more pre-service experience is better, but quality definitely matters. 

Make sure to ask any prospective programs about what their pre-service experience entails, including:

• How long it lasts.
• How the program selects mentor teachers.
• How you will receive feedback on your practice.

What does “teaching diverse populations” mean? 

Your teaching program should prepare you to teach students with a variety of learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and social and emotional needs.

Preparation to teach different populations can include: 

• Coursework that specifically addresses the needs of students from different backgrounds.
• Training on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) or trauma.
• Coaching and feedback on culturally relevant pedagogy.

Why is this preparation important? 

Houston is home to students with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. With a growing immigrant population and over 145 languages spoken, this is a key strength and core value of the community.

Many students, especially those experiencing poverty, come to school impacted by trauma. Trauma can cause students to enter "fight or flight" mode more often, making it harder for them to absorb lessons. There’s a growing body of research helping educators understand how to effectively support these students, so that they are able to thrive in school.

Ask teaching programs about how they prepare teachers to work with different kinds of students, including:

• What, if any, required courses focus on students with different needs.
• What hands-on practice you’ll get.
• What skills you’ll build to work with different student populations.

What does “mentoring and coaching” mean? 

Your teaching program should provide an experienced and highly effective mentor, teacher and coach to give meaningful feedback during your training process. 

Mentorship in the classroom

Most programs will put you in a classroom under the supervision of a mentor, master or host teacher (different names for essentially the same thing) during your pre-service experience.

You will generally start off observing and then start teaching more and more. Mentor teachers give you constructive feedback to help you grow in ability and confidence.

Program coaches

Programs also send coaches to visit and observe you in your classroom at regular intervals. Coaches can give you additional feedback and help you think through challenges you're experiencing. 

Sometimes, coaches will visit you even after your pre-service experience is over, when you’re the primary teacher in a classroom. 

Preventing burnout 

Some teaching programs also dive into how stress might impact your well-being, and how to develop tools to keep you healthy and thriving in the classroom. After all, teaching—like all impactful professions—is challenging. Having strategies for self-care will help you avoid burnout. 

Why is mentoring and coaching important?

When you’re starting out as a teacher, you want to learn from someone whose work you want to emulate. Many teachers will tell you that having a mentor teacher, especially a mentor in a similar subject area and grade level, is critical for success. 

Your mentor teacher will have a big impact on the kind of teacher you’ll become, your attitude toward teaching and your professional growth mindset. 

Ask prospective programs about their mentoring and coaching support, including:

• How they select mentor teachers and coaches.
• How they match you with a mentor teacher or coach.
• What they expect from mentor teachers and coaches.
• How they ensure that mentor teachers and coaches model effective practices and give helpful feedback. 
• How they help teacher candidates learn to manage stress and avoid burnout. 
• Whether they provide any continued support during your first few years as a teacher.

What does “commitment to improvement” mean?

Your teaching program should show commitment to continuous improvement of its teacher preparation practices. This might be the hardest criteria to spot as you shop for programs. 

Programs with a strong commitment to improvement might: 

• Ask for regular feedback from students, recent alumni, partner schools and districts. 
• Research data on child development and learning styles. 
• Actively work to recruit and retain diverse teacher candidates, mentors, professors and instructors. 
• Partner with diverse schools, districts and professional enrichment programs.
• Set clear goals and standards for student achievement and skill-building. 
• Make changes in response to current events in education, policy and cultural shifts. 

Why is commitment to improvement important? 

Our world is changing rapidly, and so are the skills you’ll need to teach students. To be prepared for the classrooms of today and tomorrow, you’ll want your program to be up-to-date on research about childhood development, serving diverse populations and how humans learn and grow. This benefits you and your future students!

You can ask prospective programs about their improvement practices, including: 

• How they collect, share and use research and data with teaching faculty and students.
• How they gather feedback from students and alumni.
• How they assess partnerships with schools and districts.
• How they respond to school and district needs. 
• How they stay up-to-date on effective, relevant educational practices. 
• What their goals are for their teaching programs’ growth.