The Claremont Fellows program is a 12 to 18 month teaching residency and master’s program offered in partnership with high-need schools across California.
The key aim of the Claremont Fellows program is to empower diverse Fellows with the critical social justice and evidence-based competencies and experiences they need to:
- Recognize and maximize their own insights and expertise
- Improve students’ agency and achievement
- Enact critical social justice and cultivate a fertile ecology for all students’ productive activity and learning
- Be resilient as new teachers and within long careers in education
Modeled after medical residencies, teacher residencies best prepare effective teachers for marginalized populations. Recognizing that residencies are often prohibitively expensive for teacher candidates, the Claremont Fellows program offers a $45K living stipend.
Funding & Benefits
In exchange for a commitment to teach for three years in a qualifying high-need school after completing the residency, Claremont Fellows receive:
- Full-time, year-long residency opportunity with an effective mentor teacher at a qualifying high-need school
- $18,000-$45,000 living stipend during the residency
- High-quality, evidence-based, critical social justice induction program for two years after the residency leading to a California “clear” or permanent credential
- Simultaneous, integrated master’s and credential coursework
- Cohort model to support professional and personal community
- Dynamic academic and clinical support from diverse critical social justice educators
- Can be completed 100% online anywhere in California
Programs Available
Claremont Fellows pursue an MA in Education and a single subject, multiple subject, or special education California Preliminary Teaching Credential:
- Multiple Subject and Single Subject Math, Science, English, Social Sciences, Spanish
- Special Education Mild/Moderate Support Needs (MMSN) or Extensive Support Needs (ESN)
Timeline For 2022-2023 Cohort
| Priority application deadline | November 1, 2021 |
| Rolling Admission through: | December 31 (for Spring) and June 30 (for Fall) |
| Spring Start | January 2022 |
| Summer Start | August 2022 |
| MA & Credential coursework | Jan/Aug 2022 – July 2023 |
| Induction | 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years |
Timeline For 2023-2024 Cohort
| Priority application deadline | November 1, 2022 |
| Rolling Admission through: | December 31 (Spring) and June 30 (Fall) |
| Spring Start | January 2023 |
| Summer Start | August 2023 |
| MA & Credential coursework | Jan/Aug 2023 – July 2024 |
| Induction | 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years |
Eligibility
- Completed BA or BS, minimum GPA 3.0
- Meet basic skills requirement by passing the California Basic Education Skills Tests (CBEST), or by an alternative option (contact admissions representative for more details).
- Meet the Subject Matter Skills requirement by passing the California Subject Examination for Teachers (CSET), or by an alternative option (contact admissions representative for more details).
- Willingness to commit to teaching in a qualifying high-need school for 3 years following completion of the program
For More Information
Reach out if you would like more information or have any questions about the Claremont Fellows program.
Rebecca Hatkoff
rebecca.hatkoff@cgu.edu
Maryam Qureshi
maryam.qureshi@cgu.edu
How to Apply
If you are ready to apply:
- Complete and submit this informal preliminary application of interest.
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- Begin your CGU application.
- Talk to an admissions representative about options for meeting the basic skills and subject matter requirements.
- Secure 2 letters of recommendation from former professors or supervisors; at least one should speak to your experience working with youth.
FAQ
The overall commitment is 4 years: an 18-month MA and Credential program, and a subsequent 3-year commitment to teaching in an qualifying high-need school, and a 2-year induction program during the first two years as the teacher of record.
Spring or Fall Semester: Fellows will begin their graduate coursework.
Fall & Spring Semesters: Fellows will work full-time as residents in schools, attend graduate and clinical coursework online during the week, participate in an online Clinical Practicum once monthly in community with mentor teachers, and attend optional in-person experiences at CGU once monthly on Saturdays.
Summer Term: Fellows will continue their master’s coursework and participate in a capstone course to complete their Ethnographic Narrative Project/MA Thesis.
Subsequent Two Years of Fall & Spring Semesters: Induction coursework that leads to a permanent California Teaching Credential.
Because the living stipends are funded through a grant with specific parameters, anyone who does not complete three years in a qualifying high-need school will need to repay the living stipend. Accommodations are available for special circumstances.
Teachers who completed residency programs notably outperformed novice and veteran teachers from other pathways by their fourth year teaching, especially with marginalized students (Papay, et al., 2011). The gradual release of responsibility within a residency is based on medical education models, and prepares teacher candidates to understand the complexity of teaching before taking responsibility for students.
The program operates from the premise that schools are not neutral, society is stratified along social group lines, and inequality is deeply and structurally embedded. Our program supports Fellows in understanding this landscape so they can then actively seek to change the deep structures and inequity that undermines students’ success an opportunity (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). Through this reiterative process, teachers can both empower students (households, and communities) with the resources they need to navigate an unjust world with empathy and savvy, and chip away at injustice.
Contact Rebecca Hatkoff (rebecca.hatkoff@cgu.edu) or Maryam Qureshi (maryam.qureshi@cgu.edu) if you have any questions about the Claremont Fellows Program.