About SFUTR

Based on the medical training model, SFUTR teacher candidates (known as “residents”) integrate university coursework with a full year apprenticeship alongside accomplished teachers (known as Cooperating Teachers) in urban classrooms before becoming teachers of record the following year.  Thus, SFUTR strives to tightly integrate education theory and clinical practice while supporting novices as they engage in substantive fieldwork. Residents simultaneously participate in an SFUTR partner teacher education program concurrently with their year-long intensive clinical experience.  Upon successful completion of the program, residents receive a California teaching credential and will have completed all or most of the coursework for a master’s degree.  In return for tuition remission, fellowships, or eligibility for loan forgiveness programs at the university, residents commit to teaching in San Francisco’s hard-to-staff schools and subjects for a minimum of three years.  In short, SFUTR leverages the strengths of the universities, the district, and the other partners to establish a coherent, theoretically sound and context-responsive credentialing pathway that will attract and support the most qualified teachers for San Francisco’s schools. 

The San Francisco Unified School District, the United Educators of San Francisco, Stanford University, and San Francisco State University all share the commitment and the responsibility for attracting, developing and retaining high quality teachers for San Francisco’s students.  Together, we are committed to improving the recruitment, preparation and retention of high quality teachers to serve the diverse learning needs of students in San Francisco’s public schools.