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If you have program-specific questions, please contact the TTL Program Staff.
If you have admissions-related questions, please email gseadmissions@harvard.edu.
Students applying to the Teaching and Teacher Leadership (TTL) Program who want to earn their license to teach in U.S. schools should select the Teaching Licensure Strand in their application. Students will pursue Massachusetts initial licensure in secondary education.
Candidates in the Teaching Licensure Strand will select a preference among two fieldwork models — residency and internship. The residency model is for people ready to make an immediate impact as a teacher; the internship model offers a more gradual path. Both models immerse teacher candidates in one Boston-area school for the full academic year; they differ based on candidates’ readiness to be hired for a lead teaching role. Additionally, both models require applicants to have an existing familiarity with U.S. schools.
In both models, you will be supported by Harvard faculty and school-based mentors — as well as by peers in the TTL Program, with additional opportunities for network-building with HGSE alumni. Both models require applicants to have an existing familiarity with U.S. schools to be successful.
TTL provides coursework and fieldwork that leads to initial licensure in grades 8–12 biology, 8–12 chemistry, 5–12 in English, 5–8 general science, 5–12 history/social science, 5–8 and 8–12 mathematics, and 8–12 physics.
HGSE is committed to investing in the future of the teaching profession — and minimizing the student debt that teachers carry. We offer a signature fellowship — the Harvard Fellowship for Teaching — to qualified TTL candidates. The fellowship package covers 80 percent of tuition and provides for a $10,000 living stipend.
This prestigious fellowship is prioritized for admitted students pursuing the Teaching Licensure Residency model. Additional fellowships may be awarded to qualified candidates admitted to the Teaching Licensure Internship model and the Teaching and Leading Strand. Fellowship decisions are determined during the admissions process. Fellowship recipients must be enrolled as full-time students. HGSE offers a range of other financial aid and fellowship opportunities to provide greater access and affordability to our students. The deadline to be considered for the Harvard Fellowship for Teaching is November 1.
A full immersion in the classroom as a half-time teacher of record starting in the fall of the year following application
This model is a good fit for applicants who…
The residency model is a rich and immersive year-long fieldwork experience. Teacher candidates admitted into the residency model participate in a TTL supported hiring process to find positions as part-time teachers in Boston-area schools — with salary and benefits as per district or school policies. The residency model starts in January following acceptance to TTL, with a Spring Residency Experience (delivered remotely; Q&A below for more details). Residents will continue with remote coursework in June, arrive on HGSE's campus in July for the TTL Summer Field Experience, and assume their residency teaching responsibilities in late summer. Residency is contingent upon successful completion of preparation activities that began the previous January and continued through the summer prior to teaching. Applicants for the residency model must demonstrate their readiness for leading a classroom in our partner urban schools through a clear commitment to teaching, deep subject matter knowledge in the subject they intend to teach, and substantial experiences working with students in traditional and/or nontraditional settings.
The deadline to apply for the Residency Model, with priority for the Harvard Fellowship for Teaching is November 1, 2024.
A more gradual approach to the classroom; teaching responsibilities ramp up throughout the year
The internship model is a gradual-release learning experience that ramps up responsibility in schools and the classroom throughout the school year. The internship model starts in the summer following acceptance to TTL with courses starting in June and students arriving on HGSE's campus in July for the TTL Summer Field Experience. Interns match with an experienced mentor teacher and begin their year-long practice-based learning experience in late summer. Interns spend a minimum of 600 hours between September and May in their mentor’s classroom observing, working with small groups of students, planning and teaching lessons, assessing student learning, and participating in the school community.
The priority deadline for the Internship Model, with consideration for the Harvard Fellowship for Teaching is November 1, 2024, with the standard deadline being January 5, 2025.
The TTL Program is designed to help you gain the knowledge and practice the skills essential to leading others in learning — and will create pathways to success that will allow you to thrive as an expert practitioner and mentor in your community. A minimum of 46 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE and Initial Teaching License from Massachusetts.
The main elements of this academic year curriculum are:
To fulfill the program requirement, students must take a minimum of 34 credits specific to TTL.
All students in the Teaching Licensure Strand will participate in the Summer Experience supporting the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy (CHSA), which takes place in Cambridge in July. Through your work at CHSA, you will help middle and high school students in the Cambridge Public Schools with credit recovery, academic enrichment, and preparation for high school. Students in the Teaching Licensure Strand will teach students directly as part of a teaching team. This is an opportunity for you to immediately immerse yourself in a school environment and begin to practice the skills necessary to advance your career.
As a student in the TTL Program, you will have the opportunity to contribute to HGSE’s research on what makes effective teacher preparation. This research seeks to build an evidence base that contributes to the field’s understanding of effective approaches to teacher training, including how to support high-quality instruction, successful models of coaching and mentorship, and effective approaches to addressing the range of challenges facing our students.
TTL students will be able to participate in research studies as part of their courses.
Explore our course catalog. (All information and courses are subject to change.)
Note: The TTL Program trains educators to work in U.S. classrooms. Required coursework focuses on U.S. examples and contexts.
Students will work closely with faculty associated with their area of study. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty.
Heather Hill studies policies and programs to improve teaching quality. Research interests include teacher professional development and instructional coaching.
Victor Pereira's focus is on teacher preparation, developing new teachers, and improving science teaching and learning in middle and high school classrooms.
The Teaching Licensure Strand prepares you to be a licensed middle or high school teacher in:
Q: Is there funding available for Teaching Licensure students?A: HGSE is committed to providing significant tuition funding to ease the debt burden for aspiring and experienced teachers. The Harvard Fellowship for Teaching is awarded to qualified, full-time candidates, and covers 80 percent of tuition and provides for a $10,000 living stipend. Preference is given to candidates pursuing the Teaching Licensure Residency Model. We offer a range of additional financial aid and fellowship opportunities to provide greater access and affordability to our students.
Q: Why the early application deadline for the TTL residency model? A: The early application deadline is necessary so that we have the time to identify our residency model teaching licensure candidates and have them ready to start teaching in our partner school's late summer. The timeline aligns with when our partner schools post open positions and, working with TTL's Fieldwork Administrator, the time needed to facilitate the 0.5 FTE hiring process in the spring.
Q: What if I apply early and am not selected for the TTL residency model?A: Immediately following the residency model deadline, we will begin the review process for all residency model applicants and communicate decisions by the end of December. Any applicant not selected for the residency model may automatically be considered during the regular cycle for admission into the internship model of TTL, and for an internship fellowship. Internship model and fellowship decisions, as well as decisions for all TTL applicants not seeking licensure, will be communicated by the end of March.
Q. In which states will I be a licensed teacher after pursuing initial licensure through the Teaching Licensure Strand?A. As a teaching licensure candidate in either the residency or internship model, you will be able to pursue Massachusetts initial licensure in secondary education. Massachusetts participates in an interstate agreement with all 50 states and the District of Columbia — meaning you will be able to apply for the equivalent license in another state, without the need to enroll in another teacher preparation program. Please note: The interstate agreement does not guarantee "full" reciprocity. The educator may have to complete additional requirements, such as coursework, assessments, or classroom experience, before receiving a teaching certificate in the new state. For more information, please visit NASDTEC.
Q. When does each fieldwork model in the Teaching Licensure Strand start?A. The residency model begins in January, with the Spring Residency Experience. The internship model launches in June.
Q. What is the Spring Residency Experience?A. The Spring Residency Experience (SRE) kicks off the residency model. Starting in January, the experience is fully virtual, including 5–7 synchronous two-hour sessions and several asynchronous assignments. The SRE is centered around a key question: How can we, as teachers, contribute to improving our current education system by planning and executing instruction that supports our most marginalized students? Through this experience, you will have many chances to explore this question through observation, practice, and reflection, and gain a broad introduction to the skills and knowledge you will learn throughout your time in TTL.
As a TTL student, you will build a community around a shared commitment to teaching and teacher development. You will learn from and with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, levels of expertise, and instructional settings. To further connections with the field, you are invited to attend "meet the researcher" chats, engage in learning through affinity groups, and interact with teaching-focused colleagues across the larger university, by taking courses and participating in activities both at HGSE and at other Harvard schools.
The deadline to apply for the Residency Model and priority deadline for the Internship Model, which allow you to earn your teaching license, is November 1, 2024.The deadline to apply to the Teaching & Leading Strand is January 5, 2025.