DeKalb continues work to IGNITE interest in teacher residency program
DeKalb County IGNITE Teacher Residency Program director Carina Harrigan used the metaphor of a family cookout while talking to participants about how they should progress through the experience.
Initially, the participants, referred to as residents, are amateur cooks. Their role is to help.
The goal is for them to build enough confidence to eventually grill on their own.
“Even though we use the analogy of the grill... this is the way we want to think about how, in partnership, we’re going to support each other,” she said. “Our hope is that through the gradual release model, you can work in partnerships, so that come the end of May, you all will be ready to be teachers of record on your own.”
Harrigan shared this message during the second day of IGNITE’s Resident Summer Experience at Stone Mountain High School, a time for mentors and residents to discuss program expectations and participate in team-building activities.
The program was announced in 2023 as a response to the teacher shortage in DeKalb County. Teacher recruitment and retention are issues school districts in metro Atlanta and across the nation are trying to address. For instance, Cobb County created a program a few years ago to pay teachers to get advanced degrees through the University of West Georgia as a recruitment and retention tool.
DeKalb’s yearlong program is completely free for participants, who receive a $30,000 living stipend and finish with a Master of Arts in Teaching, as well as eligibility for Georgia educator certification.
The fourth IGNITE cohort started with the 2026-27 school year. This year’s cohort has 40 students, Harrigan said, a similar number to past years.
Residents receive the stipend and training in exchange for their commitment to teaching in the district for at least five years.
“Our hope is that they stay even longer, and they go into either other teacher leader roles, or leadership roles within the district,” Harrigan said.
The IGNITE learning process is broken down into five phases: immersion, initiation, emerging teacher, demonstration, and ownership. Residents start off as engaged observers, shadowing their mentor teachers and leading smaller activities. By the final phase, they are expected to be comfortable planning lessons and teaching a full instructional day, in addition to managing classroom tasks.
Filling areas of need
Applications this year increased in volume, officials said. The program received more than 250 applications each year for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 application cycles, officials said.
For the 2026-27 school year, the district granted IGNITE a budget of approximately $1 million. Residents can earn certifications in special education, and secondary math and science (biology, chemistry and physics) through Kennesaw State University, as well as elementary education through Clayton State University. These certification options reflect the areas in which DeKalb has the greatest need for teachers.
The program has a 95.4% retention rate, DeKalb officials say. IGNITE was also just awarded a $130,000 grant as part of the National Center for Teacher Residencies’ Boundless Educators Initiative.
‘It was just meant to be’
Returning IGNITE mentors are pleased with the program’s evolution, as well as how their prior feedback has been applied to improve it.
Ericka Francois, a third grade English Language Arts teacher at Pleasantdale Elementary School, is starting her third year as an IGNITE mentor. She believes the program strongly exemplifies the value of hands-on learning for aspiring teachers.
“There is nothing that I learned in college that prepared me better to be a teacher than just doing it myself,” she said. “I just wanted to be the mentor that I would’ve benefited from having when I was a first-year teacher.”
Francois also sees the program as a learning opportunity for mentors.
“I’m the best version of myself for them,” she said. “Learning how to give feedback, learning how to be explicit in my direction and understanding what I’m looking for, being transparent, providing grace and patience. Things like that, I think, was the biggest challenge, but it’s something that I get to grow in every year.”
Residents see the ins and outs of a teacher’s many responsibilities, from navigating interactions with parents, to facilitating testing, to attending collaborative planning and faculty meetings.
“They’re seeing from pre-planning to post-planning... you don’t get that when you’re in school, because you’re only (student teaching) for a short amount of time,” said Jasmine Jackson, a kindergarten teacher at Peachcrest Elementary School. “They should come in feeling a little bit more comfortable than a teacher coming straight out of college.”
Denise Thomas, a second-year IGNITE mentor who’s been teaching for 27 years, agrees the program gives aspiring teachers the perfect preparation as opposed to “being thrown to the wolves.” She also believes the involvement of the program’s partner universities in both selecting applicants and supporting residents throughout the process makes a difference.
“It’s better now. Because now you know these people really want to be teachers, it’s not just someone coming in just trying to get a job,” said Thomas, a special education teacher at Columbia High School.
Tabitha White, an Atlanta native and IGNITE resident this year, has wanted to be a teacher for longer than she can remember. White still remembers her fourth grade teacher. She was her favorite.
Coincidentally, White’s assigned mentor is a fourth grade teacher at Peachcrest Elementary School.
“It’s crazy how things work out. I’m actually gonna be paired with a mentor teacher that’s in that same grade,” she said. “It was just meant to be.”
A piece of the puzzle
Another goal of the program has been increasing cohort diversity.
IGNITE has consistently recruited a majority of Black residents, reflecting the racial demographics of the district, DeKalb officials said. Some research shows Black students perform better academically when they are taught by educators who look like them. The program is aiming to increase the number of male residents, particularly Black men, in addition to Latino teachers and teachers who speak various languages. About 58% of DeKalb’s students are Black, and 21% are Hispanic/Latino, comprising the district’s two largest racial groups.
“I really see us as a part of the piece of the puzzle,” Harrigan said. “There are so many important initiatives and efforts that are happening within this district. IGNITE just happens to be one that is so very specific and committed to ensuring that we have educators that are homegrown for us from the very beginning. ... Although, like I said, we’re still babies here, we’re definitely seeing this impact.”