Exploring Whether and How Teacher Residencies Offer a Different Kind of Preparation

• In Event: Analyzing the Impact of Teacher Education Policy

Abstract

The past decades have seen the rise of teacher residencies, another non-traditional pathway to certification that offers context-specific, intensive preparation to address shortages in hard-to-staff districts. Advocates consider the model an innovation on traditional teacher preparation; however, the limited research examining residencies at scale warrants skepticism about how distinctive residencies truly are. We combine administrative data with a survey of program leaders across Tennessee to find that residencies offer a unique pathway to teaching in some expected ways though not all. Residencies reported longer clinical placements, more financial support for residents, greater mentor investment, and higher levels of racial diversity than non-residencies but did not report unique practices for selecting clinical placements or mentors, designing curricula, or developing district partnerships.

Authors

• Matthew Truwit, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author

• Matthew Ronfeldt, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emanuele Bardelli, Santa Rosa City Schools
  Non-Presenting Author