Partners
Local Partners
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Service Alliance
National Collaborators
AmeriCorps
Deans for Impact
National Center for Teacher Residencies
Our History
We’ve partnered with Boston Public Schools since 1984 to develop and support initiatives that ensure that each student has access to high quality instruction. 
We were founded to foster improvement in the city’s public schools by acting as its research and development arm.
Highlights:
- 1996: We developed the BPS Essentials of Whole School Improvement, which focused on improving classroom instruction through coaching. In 2002, what became known as the Collaborative Coaching and Learning Model was adopted district-wide.
- 2002: BPS commissioned us to develop a teacher preparation program that would deliver a diverse set of highly qualified teachers for hard to fill subjects including math, science and special education. We launched Boston Teacher Residency.
- 2005 – 2009: We created the Formative Assessment in Reading (FAST-R) model and student progress data tools that were adopted in Boston and beyond.
- 2009: Our definition of a teacher residency was adopted by the U.S. Department of Education for its Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant program and was named a model for quality clinical preparation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
What We Believe
Every child can learn and succeed, but our national system of public instruction is not designed to deliver the care and instruction that each child needs.
All students deserve access to opportunity.
In Boston, we believe that the ratio of quality seats to students should be 1:1. Yet in some of our neighborhoods, the majority of schools are underperforming.
We believe that, in partnership with communities, we can build schools that will train world class teachers while preparing all students for college and for an increasingly technology driven career landscape.
Learn about how Teaching Academies and Boston Teacher Residency address these challenges:
Where We Work
Our Teaching Academies are located in the vibrant and engaged Dudley neighborhood of Roxbury, an area dubbed “the education innovation district.”
We’re committed to partnership.
We work closely with our local partners, including Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Project Hope and Roxbury Presbyterian Church. We also work with nonprofit partners and corporate partners who are critical to the success of our students as they seek to find their place in today’s career landscape.
Why Dudley? Why Boston?
In Dudley, 54% of households earn less than $25,000 per year and only 16% of residents have attained a two or four year college degree. We urgently need to ensure that Dudley’s students, and all of Boston’s students have access to educational opportunities that are equal to their potential. And Boston’s workforce development needs, which are increasingly in STEM-related fields, demand preparation beyond that provided by traditional schooling.
As many of the schools in Dudley are rated as underperforming, 72% of families choose to send their children to schools outside of the neighborhood. We created a preK-12 pathway so that families looking for a great schooling option right in their neighborhood would have a guaranteed place at excellent school.
Through Boston Teacher Residency, we train teachers at our Teaching Academies, in Dudley; upon graduation we send them out to schools all over Boston, where they have impacted 20,000 Boston students to date.
Publications
Recent reports featuring BPE programs:
Impact
We are committed to creating replicable models for instruction, and to refining our work based on student outcomes.
- President Obama highlighted Boston Teacher Residency as a model for recruitment and preparation of high quality teachers
- In 2009, the federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant program was developed to replicate our residency model nationally.
Boston Teacher Residency
“BTR prepares you for so much more than teaching. I learned what it meant to be part of a community of people working together, and it was so beautiful. I learned how to talk to children. I learned about biases and my own limitations. I learned about how to contribute to society, how to be a better human. I learned about humanity. Everyone should have a BTR-like program. It broadens your sense of self and the world we live in.”
-BTR Grad, cohort 2
- Half of BTR grads are teachers of color, and 75% of all grads still teach in BPS.
- BTR grads are four times more likely than MA teachers to be rated “Exemplary” in their 4th year of teaching.
Dudley Street School
When we opened the school in 2012, just 29% of students were reading on grade level. At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, 52 of students were reading on or above grade level, and 68% of students made one year or more growth in reading.
Dearborn STEM Academy
After the school’s first year with BPE as operator, Dearborn, a state-designated turnaround school, grew from the 16th to the 24th percentile in student performance relative to other Massachusetts schools. 
Madison, Wisconsin
November 4, 2009
