Preparing to Serve: The Ripple Effects of Terminating a Middle School Teacher Residency

• In Event: A Rallying Cry: Sustaining Equity-Centered Teacher Preparation in Light of TQP Grant Terminations

Abstract

The abrupt termination of the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant at a public research university in California was existential and unprecedented. Entering its second year and just beginning full implementation, the grant-funded program had already become a living ecosystem for middle school teacher preparation. Residents were immersed in graduate coursework, field placements, and the demands of the edTPA. 86% of the candidates were first-generation college graduates, many of whom were alumni of the very public school systems in which they were placed during their residency. Residents came to become teachers and work with schools and communities that mirrored their own. The sudden loss of federal funding disrupted far more than program logistics; it interrupted the hopes, commitments, and pedagogical innovations of an entire learning community.

The TQP-funded program was designed as an interdisciplinary residency explicitly focused on middle school education, a developmental phase that is often overlooked in teacher preparation. Anchored in transformative social-emotional learning (SEL) and adolescent literacy development (Jagers et al., 2019; Guthrie & Wigfield, 2023; Scales et al., 2023), the program offered a unique model that addressed the cognitive, emotional, and cultural needs of young adolescents. Despite California being the nation’s most populous and diverse state, very few programs prioritize the specific context of middle school. Our program stood nearly alone in offering this intentional focus. The work of reimagining teacher preparation for this age group meant not just reshuffling curriculum, but reconstructing assumptions about what it means to teach, to lead, and to belong in middle school spaces.
The faculty team employed inductive, open, and deductive axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2014) to analyze resident work from two core courses and eight community of practice sessions. Initial findings highlight how the residency’s design enabled deep relational work and the co-construction of culturally responsive, literacy-rich pedagogy (Martinez & Wighting, 2023). Residents designed integrated, interdisciplinary units that honored students’ cultural assets. In one compelling example, a team developed a life science unit on the history of corn. By weaving scientific, historical, and cultural narratives, they connected students’ culinary and familial knowledge with academic concepts like photosynthesis and cellular respiration, bringing the content alive while affirming identity and belonging.

Our residency program also worked to shift long-standing patterns in the teaching profession, where new educators often gravitate toward either elementary or high school roles. Through its interdisciplinary and relational approach, the program revealed the profound joy and complexity of working with middle school students. In parallel, the program seeded a future pipeline by inviting local community college students into residents’ classrooms, planting the idea that teaching is possible and powerful. A leadership strand also supported site administrators, enhancing coherence across school systems and investing in the broader middle school ecosystem.

The cancellation of our TQP grant reverberates deeply. It is felt by residents, mentor teachers, school leaders, and students. Most notably, it is felt by the middle schoolers who will never meet the teachers who were being prepared specifically for them. This loss is a sobering reminder of what’s at stake when novel programs are ended before they reach their full potential.

Authors

• Imelda Nava-Landeros, University of California - Los Angeles

• Theodore Ruiz Sagun, University of California - Los Angeles

• Emma D. Hipolito, University of California - Los Angeles