Bilingual Educators & Accelerated Community To Teaching Program (BE/ACTT)
We believe that the next generation of BPS teachers are in our classrooms or are in the homes and in community organizations in the City of Boston right now. We are committed to developing programs that provide multiple access points to prepare our next generation of educators.
The BPS Accelerated Community to Teacher (ACTT) Program is part of an overarching strategy to increase the number of top teachers in the district who reflect the racial, cultural and linguistic diversity of our students and our community.
You do not need to be bilingual to join our program! We have a pathway for BOTH bilingual educators and monolingual educators.
Email us at: diversity-actt@bostonpublicschools.org
who we want
To be considered for our program, you must:
Hold a bachelor’s degree (conferred by beginning of program).
Demonstrate experience working with youth in an educational or mentoring setting.
Meet all legal requirements to work in the United States.
Pass a criminal background check before the beginning of the program.
Available subjects
We are recruiting and preparing teachers for the following subjects for the 2021-22 school year:
Elementary Education
Early Childhood Education
Middle and High School Science
Middle and High School Mathematics
Middle and High School English and Language Arts
Middle and High School History and Humanities
Bilingual Education endorsement can be added to all licenses
To earn your provisional license in one of the subject areas above, you must pass the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) required for that subject. Learn more about licensure requirements here.
Note: Eligibility and academic requirements are established by the Massachusetts Department of Education and are therefore non-negotiable and subject to change.
Training & Licensure
This 12-month program begins in June and runs through June of the following year. Here’s how it works:
1. Complete the training.
In the fall, you’ll attend unpaid Saturday trainings that take place two to three Saturdays per month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During the Fall from October to March, candidates will attend weeknight and Saturday morning trainings. From March to June, candidates will work with content mentors in order to complete a competency portfolio, support additional MTEL Prep and prepare for interviews to apply to their first teaching positions at BPS.
In this training, you’ll develop your teaching skills in a cohort and learn from highly-skilled teachers and community partners through a rigorous and interactive hands-on experience. Participants are required to prepare a competency-based portfolio and participate in a pre-practicum and full-practicum experience. This program's scope and sequence and instructional and practicum focus align with the Massachusetts Framework for Educator Evaluation.
2. Earn a provisional license and graduate credits from Merrimack College’s Winston School of Education and Social Policy.
Program faculty use each participant’s learning portfolio, classroom participation, and mentor teacher feedback from their teaching experiences to determine a candidate’s readiness for a full-time teaching role and eligibility to earn six free graduate credits towards BPS’s federally funded M.Ed. in Bilingual Inclusive Education Residency program.
Participants who successfully complete the program earn are eligible to enroll in BPS’s federally funded M.Ed. in Bilingual Inclusive Education Residency, which is one of the nation’s only in-district residency programs designed to be affordable, accessible and culturally affirming.
Participants will be able to take up to four-16 hour MTEL Prep Program courses. MTEL Prep Program support will be available during Summer and weekday evenings during the school year for cohort members requiring additional support.
3. Find a teaching position.
Though you will receive support, you will be responsible for leading your own job search to ensure that both you and your principal feel good about the match. BPS’s hiring season begins in the spring and continues through the summer, and our staff will provide you with resources and guidance so you can find a position that’s right for you. Keep in mind that all hiring decisions are ultimately made by principals or other school-based administrators.
Resume help and events such as School Leadership Panel, Demo Days, and Sharpen Your Skills Events.
Salary & Program Costs
This is a NO COST teacher preparation program.
As a full-time employee of BPS, you will earn the same starting salary as other first-year teachers. First-year teachers earn more than $65,720 and can make well over $90,221 by their sixth year. You will also have access to the same comprehensive benefits as all new teachers in BPS, including medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage.
Learn more about BPS Salaries & Benefits >
As a participant of the BPS Accelerated Community to Teacher Program, you will be responsible for the program fees.
FOR more information:
A complete online application includes the following:
Resume
An official or unofficial undergraduate transcript*
Short written responses
Three professional/educational references
*If a bachelor's degree was earned outside the US, the applicant must submit a US Equivalency Evaluation of their credentials.