School-Based Teacher Educator Development in a Residency Partnership Program: Learning to Improve Through Mentorship

• In Event: Strengthening the Latinx Teacher Pipeline Through Residency and Research-Practice Partnerships

Abstract

The crucial role of mentor teachers (also called school-based teacher educators or cooperating teachers) in influencing the development of teacher candidates during their clinical experience is well-documented in the literature (Anderson & Stillman, 2013). While most studies focus on traditional semester-long student-teaching, there is also an emerging research base on the role of mentor teachers in Urban Residency Programs and other residency models. These studies highlight the critical role played by mentor teachers in mediating candidates’ opportunities for learning, or not learning, about practice during residency (Garza et al., 2014; Goodwin et al., 2016; Kolman et al., 2016). A central focus of these studies is the impact of mentorship on teacher candidates; few studies, with some notable exceptions (Garza et al., 2018; Chu, 2019), examine the ways in which mentorship shapes and impacts mentor teachers. Even fewer studies take up a university-district-campus partnership approach to examining the role of teacher candidates and clinical experiences in shaping mentor teacher experiences.

This paper seeks to address this gap by examining the impact of residency program participation on two cohorts of mentor teachers (n=16) across grade levels in a rural school district serving more than 10,000 PK-12 students, 95% of whom are Hispanic and 86% of whom are low-income. The presentation, led by district leaders who provide direct support for residents and mentor teachers, will describe the process for selecting, training, and supporting mentor teachers as part of the year-long residency program. We will address two key questions: (1) What kinds of support do mentor teachers need in the year-long residency? (2) How does hosting a teacher resident impact mentor teacher performance?

Data sources for this continuous improvement-focused study (Bryk et al., 2015) included surveys; formal observations on a rubric conducted by school administrators; and archival documents, including meeting agendas and program planning documents. Two key sets of findings will be presented in relation to the research-practice questions. The first set of findings highlight the ways in which mentor teacher data shaped programming and support provided by the district coordinator in partnership with the university-based faculty site coordinator. One key example is including both mentors and residents to engage in co-planning while embedding various co-teaching approaches. The second set of findings focus on the performance-based observations of mentor teachers who hosted residents. The district analyzed year-to-year observation scores aligned to the state evaluation system. Mentor teachers hosting residents saw growth. Out of the 16 mentor teachers, 60% of them showed growth in their teacher observation rubric scores from the year they did not host a resident compared to the year they did host a resident.

Authors

• Juan I. Martinez, Clint Independent School District

• M. Jennifer Parker, Clint Independent School District

• Christina Castanos, Clint Independent School District