Mentor Development as a Crucial Lever for Novice Teacher Effectiveness in an Urban Teacher Residency

• In Event: Lessons Learned From Urban Teacher Residencies

Abstract

As partners in the Urban Teacher Residency (UTR), New Visions for Public Schools and Hunter College have developed a 14-month teacher preparation program with promising initial impacts on retention and New York State Regents exam scores. UTR was founded to improve outcomes in high-needs schools through a yearlong apprenticeship and master’s degree program which prioritizes clinical learning.

The mentoring model in UTR – an intensive year alongside a trained mentor with guidance from the program staff—is supported by extensive research showing that having a highly effective mentor significantly increases teacher retention rates and effectiveness (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004). Research also shows that preparation involving integrated field and coursework components lessens teacher attrition rates (Darling-Hammond 2000; Berry at al 2010), and that an emphasis on the skillful bridging of theory and practice leads to a demonstrated impact in teachers’ effect on student achievement (Darling-Hammond and Youngs, 2008; Boyd et al, 2009).

Several program structures support effective mentoring in UTR, including a rigorous selection process, initial training, ongoing professional development, a formative assessment system, and continuous support and feedback. To be selected as mentors, teachers must be observed and participate in a selection event that requires them to model providing feedback to a novice. Mentors complete an initial professional development course and convene regularly in teams to problem-solve collaboratively throughout the residency. The program staff also meets with residents and mentors regularly to provide coaching and personalized feedback. In addition, mentors act as assessors to monitor resident progress and set goals for their own practice.

To provide summative evaluation of UTR’s outcomes over three years and identify key program elements responsible for those outcomes, Rockman et. al. have investigated the program’s impact on teacher retention and student learning, as measured by grades and New York State Regents exam scores. Student performance data, teacher retention data, teacher surveys and focus groups, data from the formative assessment system, and interviews with faculty, host school principals, and program staff were used in the evaluation.

To date, 88 percent of UTR graduates are still teaching in NYC high-need schools. In a quasi-experimental study comparing the performance of UTR residents’ students to that of matched samples of students taught by non-UTR trained teachers, Rockman et. al. found that residents’ students were performing as well as or better than peers on high-stakes New York standardized exams. Controlling for grade, gender, and special education and ELL status, researchers found similar induction-year results: students taught by UTR graduates were keeping pace or outperforming their peers. Research results also demonstrate that students taught by residents and graduates earn statistically higher grades than matched comparison groups of students taught by teachers not prepared in UTR.

Strong teacher preparation programs can function as a key lever for increasing teacher effectiveness and decreasing attrition. The Urban Teacher Residency program has demonstrated that its clinically-rich model provides extensive development opportunities for mentors, shows promise as a pathway in effective teacher preparation, and develops novice teachers who improve achievement for all students.

Authors

• Marisa Harford, New Visions for Public Schools

• Kay Sloan, Rockman et al

• Roberta Trachtman, New Visions for Public Schools

• Sherryl B. Graves, Hunter College School of Education