Alternative Routes into Teaching
If you’re interested in becoming a teacher, have a bachelor's degree, but don’t have a teaching degree, there are many programs in the Denver area and that offer excellent teaching preparation programs. Each program combines practical teaching experience with an instructional education to prepare you to become a teacher.
The decision to pursue a teaching career takes place at various stages of one’s life and understanding the pathways to obtain a teacher’s license is critical to choosing the right one. Alternative programs leverage life experience and diverse backgrounds to cultivate quality teachers who can help raise student achievement.
Please review the links below for a more detailed description of these options to determine which program best fits you:
Denver Teacher Residency (DTR)
The highly-selective DTR program offers an alternative route into a teaching through a strategic combination of clinical classroom experience in urban, high-needs DPS elementary schools. The program features a year-long apprenticeship alongside a skilled DPS Lead Teacher, master's level coursework at the University of Denver's Morgridge College of Education, and a curriculum designed specifically by and for DPS, in exchange for a 5-year commitment working in DPS high-needs schools. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree; career changers and bilingual English-Spanish candidates strongly encouraged to apply.
The Denver Teaching Fellows (DTF) program recruits and trains outstanding career changers and recent college graduates to teach the students who need them most. This competitive program seeks socially-driven individuals who want to make a difference in the Denver community by becoming secondary math, special education, and bilingual elementary teachers in our district’s highest-need public schools. Fellows participate in an intensive Training Institute in the summer prior to entering their classrooms, pursue their teaching license while teaching full-time, and receive a full-time teachers' salary once they begin teaching in the fall. Please create your own DTF account to receive important updates about our upcoming application season. Our 2012 application launched in November and admissions are rolling so be sure to apply early!
TFA is the nation’s largest provider of teachers for low-income communities and a national corps of 17,000 outstanding recent college graduates and professionals of all academic majors and career interests. Candidates commit two years to teach in urban public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity. This year, a corps of 56 of the nation’s most promising future leaders are teaching in our city’s lowest-income classrooms as a part of Teach For America Denver.
Alternative Licensure Programs (ALP-1, ALP-2, and ALPSED)
The Alternative Licensure Program (ALP) is for qualified candidates who do not hold a teaching license. DPS considers alternative licensure candidates in high needs areas including Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education (in a bilingual or Montessori classroom), Math, Science, Foreign Language, and Special Education. In some cases, other endorsement areas are considered. ALP teachers participate in summer training, teach full-time while working toward licensure, and receive salary and benefits. For more information on the ALP programs, contact HR Connect.
Additional information is provided describing the programs with our partner, Metropolitan State College of Denver's School of Professional Studies and varies depending on your previous teaching experience and area of interest. As a requirement of participation in ALP, candidates must secure a teaching position in DPS.
- One Year Alternative Licensure Program (ALP-1)
For individuals who do not hold a teaching license but have previous K-12 teaching experience. Candidates must be selected for a teaching position in DPS as an Alternative Licensure teacher with pay and benefits and are also enrolled as in the ALP Program. All candidates must have a bachelor's degree, meet CDE requirements (content area test or college coursework requirements), and pass the background check. This one-year program includes coursework and coaching through Metropolitan State College of Denver. - Two Year Alternative Licensure Program (ALP-2)
For individuals who do not hold a teacher's license and do not have previous K-12 teaching experience. Candidates must be selected for a teaching position in DPS as an Alternative Licensure teacher with pay and benefits and also be enrolled as a student in the ALP Program. All candidates must have a Bachelor's degree, meet CDE requirements (content area test or college coursework requirements), and pass the background check. This two-year program includes coursework in year one and coaching in year two through Metropolitan State College of Denver. - Two Year Alternative Licensure Program (ALPSED)
For individuals who do not hold a teaching license and do not have previous K-12 teaching experience OR for individuals who wish to add a Special Education endorsement to an existing Colorado teaching license. Candidates must be selected for a Special Education teaching position in DPS as an Alternative Licensure teacher with pay and benefits and are also enrolled as a student in the ALP Program. This two-year program includes coursework and coaching in both years one and two through Metropolitan State College of Denver. Coursework in this program is available as undergraduate or graduate credit. Upon completion of the graduate level program, participants will be only nine hours short of earning their master's degree.
Teacher Institute at La Academia
Teacher Institute is an official Colorado Department of Education Designated Agency that provides alternative certification programs for teachers, as well as opportunities for Paraprofessionals and other educational support staff to become licensed teachers.
TILA Licensure Areas Include:
- All Secondary Content Areas
- All K-12 Content Areas
- Special Education Generalist (Initial and Added Endorsements)
- Early Childhood Education (ECE)
- Linguistically Diverse Education (LDE)
- Elementary Education
The Teacher Institute at La Academia consists of three major components:
- Classroom teaching experience (where you must be a full-time teacher of record)
- Direct pedagogical instruction in a seminar format that offers university graduate credit
- A reflective and research-oriented competency based portfolio
Teacher Institute participants receive nine graduate credits in a cohort setting from The University of Colorado Denver (UCD). These nine credits transfer into the Literacy, Language, and Culturally Responsive Teaching (LCRT) or Special Education (SPED) Master's programs at UCD.
Finally, Teacher Institute is proud to offer eligible participants the opportunity to pursue their teacher licensure through a grant-funded partnership with University of Colorado Denver, PAR2A Center. This partnership offers full tuition, additional resources, and comprehensive support throughout the program.