Transition to Teaching

The multi-state  Transition to Teaching  Eastern andSouthern Partnership (TESP)   project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and will produce 210 highly qualified teachers in high-need areas nationally who are recruited and hired through online, streamlined teacher hiring systems by the human resources (HR) divisions of the partnering school districts and charter schools.    Although in different parts of the country, the partnering school districts and schools find that they are encountering like problems and issues.  Both  mid-career professionals and recent college graduates  are eligible to serve as teachers in the high-need areas of grades 5-12 mathematics, science technology; Special Education may also be recruited for Charleston County School District. 

Qualified TESP program candidates will engage in their respective state’s alternative teacher certification programs with rigorous pedagogy and content learning experiences via workshops and online course work through Drexel University’s (Philadelphia, PA), state-approved Teacher Education program.    Participating high-poverty school districts and charter schools, with shortages of highly qualified teachers in high-need areas, include Charleston County School District (Charleston, SC), Mobile County Public School System (Mobile, AL), Chester-Upland School District (Chester, PA) and charter schools located within the School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA).   

A series of computer simulations for novice teachers highlighting critical issues faced by novice teachers and possible solutions are being developed for asynchronous and just-in-time access to support teacher candidates in the classroom and for the recruitment of mid-career citizens who may want to transition to teaching.

For more information and admissions requirements, please contact  Joe Reo , Coordinator in the Office of Records & Finance of the  School of Education, at  jar342@drexel.edu  or (215) 895-0339.

Dr. Fredricka Reisman ,  Professor of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies, Director of Drexel/Torrance Center for Creativity & Innovation and Founder of Drexel's School of Education, serves as the Principal Investigator of the multimillion dollar initiative.