Our curriculum focuses entirely on the educational theories and practices that improve student learning in the classroom: building subject knowledge, cultivating a fun and productive learning environment, developing personal connections with students and families, and creating high-quality lessons.

Summer 1 Courses:
Introduction to Classroom Management
Setting the Tone
Teacher Mindsets and Professionalism
Introduction to Lesson Planning
Identity and Bias

Fall 1 Courses:
Classroom Management
Getting to Know Students, Families, and Schools
The Together Teacher
Introducing New Material
Engaging Everybody
Content-Based Instruction 

Spring 1 Courses:
Checking for Understanding
Student Practice
Using Data to Drive Instruction
Designing Assessments
Teaching Exceptional Learners
Teaching English Language Learners
Educational Autobiography
Content-Based Instruction 

Summer 2 Courses:
Unit Planning
Building Culturally Responsive Curriculum
Introduction to Character Strengths
Teaching English Language Learners
Community Asset Mapping
The First Days of School
Content-Based Instruction

The Relay Alternative Certification Program provides a balance of learning while working as a lead teacher. Relay's coursework features video exemplars, faculty who are experts in their content area, and rigorous content that participants can use in their classroom the next day. Faculty provide candidates with frequent observation and feedback, which candidates can use immediately.

Two-thirds of aspiring teachers enrolled in the Relay Graduate School of Education identify as persons of color, making it one of the largest and most diverse educator residency preparation programs in the country. Relay’s commitment and success in recruiting, preparing and supporting diverse teachers has been sustained annually even as the institution has increased enrollment each year.

Over the course of the two-year one-year program, you will learn how to understand and intentionally respond to differences among the learners in your classroom. You will also develop skills to identify and implement accommodations that align with individual students’ needs. In particular, you will learn how to use Universal Design for Learning to accommodate learner variability during whole-group instruction.

Relay places students in schools with a resident advisor who is there to provide a window into teaching and into the curriculum of our partner school. In this role, the resident advisor fulfills several responsibilities to assist your development, including modeling and co-teaching, curriculum and lesson-planning, and communication with Relay.