Thoughts on the Baltimore Teaching Residency (and the DC Teaching Residency) Interviews

This is a mural outside BCPS (Baltimore City Public Schools) HQ.

I'm hoping to be selected for an interview on March 20 or March 21, just a few days after I get back from my interview in Atlanta. This would be a great way to get some recent experience other than substitute teaching and get the teaching certificate.

March 8, 2011 UPDATE

Re-did the 2011 application cycle after I was not selected for 2010. I was applying to teach high school chemistry. I was not selected, and I don't think it had anything to do with the interview or 5 minute lesson. I am a strong interviewer, essay writer, and teacher. Although no feedback is given to candidates who are not selected, I am fairly certain that the reason I was not selected is due to the fact that I defaulted on my student loans - this was directly related to job loss during the economic collapse in 2008. There is nothing I can do about this, and I will not be reapplying.

On average, only 5% of applicants are admitted to these competitive teaching programs. However, I was admitted to medical school several years ago (I did not graduate for personal reasons). In my honest opinion, the interview process for a teaching residency is nothing compared to the rigor of interviews for some of the medical schools I applied to, and the Praxis II subject exams and Praxis II Pedagogy are nothing compared to the MCAT or the first level of the medical boards.

Here are some impressions that will hopefully help other applicants:

1. These programs want applicants with an elite image. Substitute teaching is not considered glamorous or high-status, even though it is excellent experience if you do it frequently in a diverse environment. I felt pressure to play up my current "elite" part-time position and my Peace Corps teaching experience, and to downplay the fact that I substitute teach at all. Hypocrisy annoys me.

2. Both DC Teaching Residency and Baltimore Teaching Residency ask the same "litmus test" question: "What percentage of responsibility should a teacher be willing to accept for the success or failure of all of his or her students?" There is only one right answer - 100%.

It doesn't matter what your personal feeling is on this controversial issue. If you answer anything less than 100%, you will not be hired at either program. Many thoughtful teachers feel drawn to answering with some version of a 50/50 balance - the teacher who gives 100% effort in the classroom believes that the students should meet them halfway with 100% willingness to learn. These teachers are not hired. Hypocrisy really annoys me.

3. Don't undermine a polished five minute lesson with a short essay. When an applicant is handed three blank lined pages to write an essay, he or she is expected to answer with a complete essay that reaches the third page. Candidates are interviewed in groups of eight to ten people, and I saw applicants in my group writing one page essays. I wouldn't hire them. I doubt these residency programs did either.