Using Improvement Science to Implement and Evaluate a Teacher Residency Program in Rural School Districts

• In Event: Rural Teachers and Rural Teacher Preparation: Intersections With Place

Abstract

Through a US Department of Education grant, a flagship university partnered with two school districts in rural communities to address teacher recruitment and retention through an eighteen-month teacher residency program. The participating districts had increasing teacher vacancies because recruitment and retention efforts associated with non-community-based programs were not effective. Using an improvement science approach that identified the root causes of issues and engaged a Networked Improvement Community, the program recruited over 40 applicants and accepted fourteen residents in Year 1. Most residents live within the two communities and represent the demographics of the communities. The program also developed mechanisms, based on data, to effectively engage and support residents alongside both university faculty and coaching teachers amid a global pandemic.

Authors

• Leigh D'Amico, University of South Carolina

• Hall West, University of South Carolina

• Melissa Baker, University of South Carolina

• Rachelle Curcio, University of South Carolina

• George J Roy, University of South Carolina

• Stephen L. Thompson, University of South Carolina

• Amber Janel Adgerson, University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Jessie Guest, University of South Carolina