Residency Impact and Continuous Improvement in Partnership-Based Teacher Preparation

• In Event: Transforming Latinx Teacher Preparation: Key Design Elements of a Fully Scaled HSI Teacher Residency Program

Abstract

The last two decades have seen the rise of residency models of teacher preparation, especially in the alternative certification arena (Berry et al., 2008; Zeichner & Bier, 2012). Early studies of residencies tended to focus on program descriptions and design elements (Silva et al, 2014; Solomon, 2009), while more recent studies have begun to examine the performance and achievement outcomes of residencies for both resident graduates and their students (Bardelli et al., 2023). Several large-scale studies have examined the impact of different preparation pathways, including residency, on initial teacher effectiveness, student outcomes, and teacher retention, which had mixed results and which signaled the need to examine the different design features of particular pathways (Matsko et al, 2022; Ronfeldt, 2021).

In this emerging literature, few studies of residency have enacted a partnership-driven, research-to-practice approach to understanding residency impact on teacher candidate preparedness. This paper seeks to address that gap by presenting findings from one university-based paid residency program developed in close partnership with seven school districts and scaled across undergraduate majors and post-baccalaureate pathways. The design of the residency aligned with key research-based principles for high-quality residencies outlined by Guha et.al. (2016): a year-long placement in high-needs schools; careful selection and training of mentor teachers; coaching from a university clinical faculty member known as a Site Coordinator; and candidate assessment around a core set of teaching competencies.

The guiding question for this paper is: What is the impact of the year-long, partnership-based residency on teacher candidates’ preparedness for the classroom? Data sources for this mixed methods study include: (1) employment data for resident graduates; (2) teacher candidate exit surveys from 2022-2024 for all year-long residents (n=184); (3) surveys of residency-prepared and other-prepared beginning teachers (n=83); and (4) interviews with first-year residency-prepared teachers (n=33). The 16 preparedness items on the two surveys aligned to the state evaluation framework for teachers across the four domains of lesson planning, instruction, learning environment, and professional responsibilities.

The employment data gathered from district partners points to a high rate of job placement of residents in full-time teaching positions post-residency: overall, 86% of resident graduates in 2022-2023 were hired post-residency as teachers in their placement district. In exit surveys, resident graduates report high levels of perceived preparedness for their own classrooms across these four domains, with 92.2% reporting feeling “well” or “very-well” prepared in planning; 91.5% in instruction; 93.8% in learning environment; and 92.1% in professional responsibilities. In beginning teacher surveys, administered at the end of resident graduates’ first-year in the classroom, residency-prepared teachers (n=48) reported higher rates of preparedness across all four domains - 3.43 on a 4-point scale – as compared to other-prepared teachers (n=35) - 3.23. The domain with the greatest discrepancy between the two groups was “professional awareness and responsibilities” (3.56 to 3.24).

These emerging findings contribute not only to the partnership-driven effort to strengthen teacher preparation in this region, but also to the growing knowledge base about the most high-leverage design features of teacher residencies that promote candidate readiness for the classroom.

Authors

• Erika L. Mein, University of Texas - El Paso

• Joyce Asing Cashman, University of Texas - El Paso

• Jennifer Stefania Herrera Lozano, University of Texas - El Paso