By Rabbi Dr. Michael Berger and Nina Bruder

The educator shortage in Jewish day schools has been a topic of conversation for well over a decade, but in recent years, it has reached true crisis levels. Both new and seasoned teachers are leaving in droves and they are not being replaced by incoming talent, as people choose to enter other professions that offer more flexibility, less stress, and higher pay. In response, many schools are filling gaps by hiring teachers who have little or no training or previous teaching experience, including subject matter experts exploring second careers. While this approach gets new teachers in the door, most are unprepared for the realities of the classroom. They end up feeling overwhelmed and ineffective – and teachers who lack confidence and perceive themselves as unsuccessful don’t stay in the profession. Thus the retention factor of the pipeline crisis perpetuates. 

To help address this challenge, Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) and Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration have launched a groundbreaking pilot certificate program for new teachers. As part of its strategic vision, Azrieli is looking to collaborate more with field practitioners and approached JNTP to consider how the two organizations might partner together. Since 2003, JNTP has been transforming Jewish day schools across denominations throughout North America by accelerating the effectiveness of new teachers through intensive mentoring, promoting the growth of school leadership through coaching and cohort learning, and helping to create optimal learning environments grounded in instructional excellence. For years, JNTP has been looking for a way to formally recognize the many hours that new teachers spend learning with their mentors. 

This exciting pilot program combines formal training and job-embedded support for a group of novice teachers – JNTP-Azrieli Fellows – helping to position them for success in their classrooms and for long-term commitment to the field. This year’s Fellows hold teaching positions at Magen David Yeshivah Elementary School, Manhattan Day School, The Moriah School, Ramaz Upper School, Sephardic Academy of Manhattan (The SAM School), SAR Academy, and SAR High School. The goal is to increase participation in each year of the three-year pilot program, to a total of 12-15 Fellows in the final year, learning from each cohort how best to roll it out nationally. Several individual donors are making the pilot possible, so that teachers and schools can participate in developing an ideal program.

The program includes a brief summer intensive course to provide the academic scaffolding for their year-long learning, followed by participation in JNTP’s signature Teacher Induction program, which includes weekly mentoring and bi-weekly classroom observations by a mentor, as well as periodic cohort-based professional development workshops throughout the year. At the end of the program, Fellows will receive from Azrieli a Certificate in Effective Teaching Strategies reflecting nine graduate school credits (the equivalent of three courses) to be applied toward a Master’s program at Azrieli or any other graduate program in education. 

“This fellowship is a win-win for all the partners,” said Dr. Deena Rabinovich, Azrieli’s Associate Dean and an instructor in the program. “Graduate schools want to offer students more practical experience, and embedded non-academic programs want to add the substance and structure that graduate schools can offer.”

The JNTP-Azrieli partnership has multiple benefits for the participants. For novice teachers, the graduate certificate gives formal recognition to their hard work, strengthens their sense of teaching as a profession with high standards for professional excellence, and deepens their commitment to the field as they invest in their own training. It also allows them to “put their toe in the water” and test out full professional training, using a proven, high quality, recognized program that is embedded into their work day. Practically, in addition to jump-starting their graduate work, Fellows receive expert mentoring support, hands-on classroom preparation, Azrieli academic oversight, and the benefit of a strong peer community. 

For the mentors – in this case, veteran JNTP mentors who completed their two-year training program and have continued to mentor in their schools over a number of years – this opportunity combats burnout by offering continuing professional growth, a chance to demonstrate leadership, and professional recognition. 

And for schools, the upside potential of this pilot program is significant. The JNTP-Azrieli fellowship program accelerates the effectiveness of educators, especially those hired with little or no training or those exploring second careers. This benefits not only the teachers and their students, but also their schools – because teachers that are skilled, confident, and feel effective stay long-term. 

Of course, for this same reason, the JNTP-Azrieli pilot program benefits the entire field of Jewish day schools. As Rachel Harari, Head of School at The SAM School says, “By equipping teachers and mentors with vital skills and support, it not only strengthens classroom practice but also keeps great educators in the field. This investment in teachers is really an investment in the future of Jewish education.”

By addressing some of the main reasons that teachers leave – not being prepared, feeling overwhelmed, feeling ineffective, burning out – and by giving teachers support, motivation, and a stronger sense of themselves as professionals, this pilot program can make real inroads in reversing the negative retention trends that contribute significantly to the day school educator pipeline crisis. Above all, a program like this underscores the value of organizations and institutions such as JNTP and Azrieli being ready, willing, and able to partner with other players in the day school ecosystem so that each can bring its unique strengths and talents to the table to address urgent issues holistically, creatively, and collaboratively.

Pictured are Amy Ament, JNTP Senior Program Consultant (far left), Dr. Deena S. Rabinovich, Associate Dean, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education & Administration (fourth from left), and Rabbi Evan Wiener, JNTP Program Consultant (far right), along with the seven JNTP-Azrieli Fellows.