Teacher Residency Research Articles

Teacher candidate self-efficacy and ability to teach literacy: A comparison of residency and traditional teacher preparation models

This comparative study explored self-efficacy and ability for scientifically-based literacy instruction between a traditional and residency model of teacher preparation. Pre-/post-survey data was collected using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Scale. Mentor teachers completed a modified version of the survey on candidates’ abilities. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-tests, independent sample t-tests, and a trend analysis. Results revealed that candidates in the Residency Model held higher levels of self-efficacy for literacy instruction than in the Traditional Model. Mentor teachers rated candidates in the Residency Model as more able to teach literacy than those in the Traditional Model. There was alignment amongst the mentor rating and the resident perception of ability. In the Traditional Model, the mentor and student teacher were not as aligned in their perspectives of student teacher ability to teach literacy. Teacher preparation programs should consider the potential of teacher Residency Models to prepare pre-service teachers for the use of the Science of Reading for teaching literacy.

Lessons From an Urban Teacher Residency Partnership

Facing teacher shortages, urban teacher frustration, and a lack of BIPOC representation in the teacher workforce, two urban institutions, a school district, and a university partnered to design, develop and implement a year-long clinical teacher residency program. Throughout the pilot and one subsequent year, data was collected through observation and open-ended questionnaires as three resident-mentor pairs engaged with students in two of the district’s elementary schools. The Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) development model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) and Moir’s (1990) Phases of First-Year Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Teaching were used to inform program design and examine the success of program implementation. While the program did not meet the goal of increasing BIPOC representation, teachers skilled in urban education successfully entered the workforce. Valuable lessons were learned about designing residency programs that foster a sense of belonging and optimize mentor and resident development. The authors conclude clinical teacher residency shows promise as an avenue for providing novice and experienced teachers responsive support as they engage with the complex process of teacher development.

Teacher residency: Growing and diversifying the profession

Violet Jiménez Sims, Kerry Lord, Marlene Megos, and Ushawnda Mitchell describe a new approach to addressing the gap between the racial diversity of teachers and students in U.S. public schools. The Connecticut Teacher Residency program (CT-TRP) is a grow-your-own approach to teacher training, certification, and retention that combines an academic program with a residency model while centering cultural competency. The program breaks down common barriers to the teaching profession by covering the cost of tuition, paying a living wage to candidates during their one-year residency, and helping them prepare for certification exams.

A teacher residency’s entanglement with time: ‘We always say we will get to it, but we never do’

‘We just do not have enough time’. A statement uttered too often in the field of education. Having taught in K-12 schools, universities, and accelerated K-12 and higher education classes, I am no stranger to the myriad of conversations on time that swirl in these spaces. All too frequently, I heard statements like: ‘there is not enough time in the schedule to do this work’, ‘time is our enemy’, ‘do the best you can with the limited time you have’, and witnessed many discussions of entanglements with time, be they individual, institutional, or structural. This article explores issues of time within hybrid/third-space working groups embedded within a teacher residency in an urban Southeastern city of the United States. In exploring the question: what role does time play in hybrid teacher residency work? This article demonstrates how time operates as a structural constraint, as a nonhuman agent, and/or is mobilized to escape/evade the nuanced and complex work of doing/thinking anti-racist abolitionist residency work across practice and theory.

Teacher Residency as a Path to Teacher Diversity

This phenomenological qualitative study examined the experiences of graduate-level teacher candidates enrolled in teacher residency programs and serving as teacher aides or assistants (TAs). Some participants were graduate-level teacher candidates already employed as TAs in a large urban district and enrolled in an Urban Pipeline Residency Program, a state-funded diversity initiative designed to increase the number of teachers from underrepresented groups by supporting TAs to pursue teacher certification. Additional participants were enrolled in the Traditional Residency Program and completed residencies in other local districts. Survey and interview data from TA/teacher candidates, mentors, and instructors showed that TA/teacher candidates in both groups experienced conflicting roles and identities, balanced demands of different classroom settings, lacked access to knowledge and materials, and balanced demands on their time. Informed by role theory, identity work, and culturally responsive pedagogy, this study suggests that programs for TA/teacher candidates may benefit from negotiating these tensions through: 1) support for TA/teacher candidates to develop their identities as teachers to address "role conflict", 2) strong communication protocols to address "role clarity", and 3) increased access to tools and knowledge to address "role enactment".

Virtual Summer Institutes as a Method of Rural Science Teacher Development

Key Policy documents call for science teacher preparation programs to provide teacher candidates with approximations to authentic teaching experiences that occur in realistic contexts. Providing such opportunities for teacher candidates located in communities that are rural and geographically far from university settings is especially difficult. Stakeholders also point to the importance of positive coaching and mentoring relationships as key factors impacting the growth of teacher candidates. In this paper we discuss the positive potential of virtual science-related summer institutes as a vehicle to (a) provide authentic science teaching experiences for teacher candidates, and (b) promote the development of positive coaching and mentoring relationships. We also share features of a summer science institute developed as a launch to our teacher residency preparation program that incorporated teacher candidates, school-based teacher educators, and university-based supervisors to maximize the potential positive impacts. Data included quantitative and qualitative post-institute survey data from teacher candidates, school-based teacher educators, and university-based supervisors. Findings revealed that residents’ perception of their content knowledge development, pedagogical knowledge development, and overall effectiveness of the summer institute were high; additionally, school-based teacher educators and university-based supervisors indicated positive perceptions of the institute, noting their knowledge of coaching increased, helpful resources were provided, and institute structures promoted the development of positive coaching relationships. These results provide tentative evidence to support the continued use of virtual science summer institutes as a viable option for supporting both preservice and in-service teacher development.

Universal Design for Learning in a Teacher Residency: Re]Framing Tensions through Collaborative Self-Study

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, interest and support for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has prompted many teacher education programs in the United States to incorporate it into preservice curricula. Developed by CAST, an educational nonprofit, the UDL framework aims to support the design of inclusive educational environments by minimizing barriers to learning, and building on student variability as a starting point for instructional and curricular design. Despite UDL’s recent growth at multiple levels of education, there remains a dearth of research examining practitioners’ experiences working with the framework. The purpose of this self-study is to analyze tensions that emerged as we, a team of five teacher educators, attempted to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in our own practice in a rural teacher residency (TRRE) program. We analyze our incorporation of UDL, the tensions we experienced, the factors contributing to those tensions, and the ways we responded to them. The two main tensions were: (a) balancing UDL’s strategies with its necessary shift in mindset, and (b) grappling with UDL’s concept of barriers alongside the necessary cognitive dissonance of the learning process. We conclude by offering implications for research and practice as we continue to navigate these tensions and incorporate UDL into our practice.

Increasing Rural Teacher Preparedness Through a Teacher Residency

Increasing Rural Teacher Preparedness Through a Teacher Residency

Coaching in teacher residency programs: a strategy for professional learning and development for in-service teachers

PurposeTeacher residency programs (TRPs) offer an alternative to traditional models of teacher preparation with the aim of developing teachers to work and stay in hard-to-staff schools. Research on these extended field placement programs is limited and typically examines program outcomes or the experiences and development of the pre-service teachers, or residents. This study focuses on a relatively unexamined area of TRPs to explore how providing mentoring and coaching supports the professional development of the in-service TRP coaches.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a qualitative case study design. Fourteen coaches in an urban teacher residency program were interviewed over a three-year period. Using a semi-structured protocol, participants’ experiences and the influence of program participation were explored.FindingsFindings revealed that coaches experienced professional growth in their instructional practices and deepened or renewed their commitment to teaching. Program components such as evidence-based observational tools and protocols encouraged reflective practice and (re)evaluation of teaching that contributed to beliefs about improved practice.Practical implicationsIn-service teachers experience development in their pedagogical practices and may feel a renewed sense of professional engagement through serving as a coach for a pre-service teacher. Additionally, hard-to-staff schools that partner with TRPs to recruit and develop new teachers may find an added benefit in retaining a greater number of veteran teachers who participate as coaches in residency pre-service education programs.Originality/valueMuch of the teacher residency literature explores the outcomes and experiences of pre-service teacher residents and has little focus on how these programs may benefit TRP coaches. Coaches have an essential role in the implementation and influence of residency programs on pre-service teachers, yet little is understood about how the act of coaching impacts the in-service teacher coach. This article suggests that coaches experience meaningful professional benefits of participation in TRPs and has implications for effective residency program design.

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

As teacher preparation paths change and rural areas have opportunities to engage qualified community members in the teaching profession, a flagship university co-developed a teacher residency program with two school districts located in rural communities. Through this partnership, the Networked Improvement Community focused on root causes of recruitment and retention challenges in the rural school districts. Using an improvement science approach, a 14-month residency model was developed to recruit qualified community members to transition to the teaching profession, with a focus on mirroring the diversity of the local community. This study focuses on the development of the residency model and the recruitment of teacher residents for the initial cohort of this alternative teacher preparation program.

The Urban Teacher Residency Model to Prepare Teachers: A Review of the Literature

Urban teacher residency (UTR) has been promoted as a promising model to prepare teachers for urban schools. In this review, we analyzed 56 peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles on UTRs published between 2010 and 2020, following the PRISMA guidelines. While this literature suggested UTRs’ potentials to recruiting and retaining diverse urban school teachers, there was limited evidence showing UTRs’ impact on graduates’ classroom teaching and the learning of their students. We also identified varied degree of coursework-fieldwork alignment and uneven mentoring support across programs. We concluded with research implications and recommendations for teacher educators and policymakers to advance urban teacher education.

Growing Critical Bilingual Literacies in a Bilingual Teacher Residency Program

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study seeks to understand teacher residents’ journeys as they develop culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies and grow a translanguaging stance in a bilingual teacher residency program in California, U.S. This study is situated within university coursework that prepares teacher residents to support their future students’ dynamic language use through a teaching practice anchored in translanguaging theory and pedagogy. I examine how teacher residents negotiate the creation of translanguaging spaces in their clinical placements in a dual language bilingual classroom to support and nourish children’s bilingual identities and language practices. I also analyze the challenges and opportunities that teacher residents experience in their dual language bilingual education student-teaching placements as they engage in the theories and pedagogies in their university coursework and grow their critical bilingual literacies.

“Honestly, I Think it’s Going Great so Far… I Did Have a Mental Breakdown” Examining the Experiences of Paid Residents in their First Year

This paper examines results from interviews of four undergraduate teacher candidates who participated in the inaugural year of a newly designed paid residency program. A large regional university, in collaboration with its largest partner school district, developed this particular teacher residency model as a potential way to offer diverse clinical experiences for undergraduate students and help combat teacher shortages in high-needs schools. This study explores the experiences of the four undergraduate students who were selected and hired as paid teacher-residents during the pilot year of this program. Each participant had their own classroom in which they served as teacher of record with the same requirements, roles, and responsibilities as the other teachers in the building. Utilizing a constructivist framework, we share results from one-on-one interviews as well as focus group discussions about their experience during pre-planning, school opening, and the first months of this new paid residency. Emerging themes identified candidates’ perceptions of starting the program and perceived issues, candidates’ preparedness for the responsibility of teacher-resident, the role of the mentor teacher in their experience, and candidates’ overall perceptions of the residency experience related to their sense of confidence and preparation for the profession. This research seeks to add to the field of Education and clinical practice and paid residencies. This research contributes to an understanding of the effectiveness of teacher residencies in the preparation of teachers. Keywords: Teacher Preparation, Internship, Preservice Teachers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-5-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Sensemaking of University and District Stakeholders in Implementing a Teacher Residency Policy in Louisiana

A growing body of research has identified teacher residency’s potentials for improving and sustaining preservice teacher learning through a stronger district–university partnership. Drawing on sensemaking perspectives on education policy implementation, this qualitative case study examines how a variety of university and district stakeholders make sense of and implement a state-mandated teacher residency in Louisiana. Findings reveal that stakeholders are primarily making sense of the residency in isolation, leading to incoherent understandings and varied implementation practices. Opportunities to improve stakeholders’ collective sensemaking and collaborative implementation and to optimize the benefits and potentials of teacher residency partnerships are discussed. This study has implications for teacher education policy implementation and continuous inquiry into the complexities of teacher preparation.

Examining Project-Based Learning Successes and Challenges of Mathematics Preservice Teachers in a Teacher Residency Program: Learning by Doing

This phenomenological study describes how secondary mathematics preservice teachers (PSTs) in a teacher residency program designed and implemented project-based learning (PBL) units. The Six A’s, a framework used to evaluate the rigor and relevance of PBL units, helped capture the research question: What are the successes and challenges PSTs experience as they implement PBL units for the first time? This qualitative study illustrates how PSTs engaged students in relevant learning, wrestled with sustaining the rigor, and included the community to be partners in the projects. Findings indicate that high-quality implementation of PBL instruction requires involving the community, facilitating mathematical learning, and transforming the learning environment. PSTs recognized that a PBL approach requires a shift from traditional teaching practices and reconceptualizing both what it means for teachers to teach mathematics and for students to learn mathematics. This study contributes to the scarce body of knowledge on how teacher residency programs can utilize PBL as an instructional model to prepare PSTs for PBL environments.

Extending DisCrit: a case of universal design for learning and equity in a rural teacher residency

ABSTRACT The Rural Teacher Residency (RTR) program prepares teachers to work in ‘high need’ rural schools in the northeastern United States, and specifically works to establish a counter-narrative to the commonly-held deficit lens applied to these schools and communities. Framed by theory and research on DisCrit and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), we share our experiences as rural teacher educators using UDL to help preservice teachers disrupt assumptions about rurality, socioeconomics, race, ability, gender identity, and privilege. We explain how our gradual incorporation of the tenets of DisCrit improved our ability to support pre-service teachers’ examination of structural inequities in school practices, including but not limited to norms of race, ability, and rurality. We conclude by offering our ongoing planning in RTR as a model for how teacher educators interested in working with DisCrit can expand its use as a transformative and liberatory framework that includes, but also extends beyond race and ability.

What Makes Teacher Preparation Legitimate? An Analysis of Teacher Residency Websites

ABSTRACT As teacher residency programs are housed in universities, charter networks, nonprofit organizations, school districts, and museums, they form a model ripe for analysis. In this study, we conduct a content analysis of a random sample of 20 teacher residency program websites, focusing on each program’s stated purpose, structures, and attributes. Drawing on institutional theory, we analyze the claims of legitimacy made by residency programs. Findings suggest that the 20 residency programs sampled for the study exhibit structural similarities to each other, yet they make different types of legitimacy claims. Key features of residency programs include explicit district and school partners, concurrent graduate coursework, and yearlong clinical experience. However, claims to legitimacy tend to be based on a variety of reasonings and potential values, including legitimacy by innovation, legitimacy by association, and legitimacy by data. We identify organizations and institutions that may influence the residency model, and we offer implications for the teacher residency model and the field of teacher preparation.

‘It’s all there.’: Entanglements of teacher preparation and induction

ABSTRACT Teacher preparation and induction are two notable hallmarks of teacher-becoming commonly presumed to be detached from one another, forcing teacher candidates to transition linearly from one phase to another. Our study challenges this notion through one newly developed teacher residency programme where participating teacher residents are positioned to navigate the simultaneous entanglement of concepts. Using critical posthumanist theories alongside poetic inquiry, this study works at the speculative middles of teacher preparation and induction. We examine a small slice of data from a larger study to zoom into individual interviews with undergraduate teacher residents to explore the question: What does the entanglement of teacher preparation and induction reveal about becoming a teacher? Through our analysis we found that becoming a teacher is (a) fraught with multidimensional relations of obligation; (b) disrupts linear conceptions of space and time; and (c) functions as a co-constitutive property to the production of practices. Furthermore, these findings illuminate ways a critical posthumanist lens might render new questions thinkable for teacher education practice and research. Examining how one residency programme works at the ‘speculative middles’ of multiple concepts produces an abundance of reverberating implications for expanding a non-linear engagement with research on teacher becoming.

Teacher Residency as Alternative Pathway to Licensure

Teacher residencies have been an ongoing discussion in the educator preparation world for nearly a decade. This paper describes a promising practice in program design at a university that offers alternative pathways to licensure to meet the demands of school districts, especially in economically disadvantaged communities in one region of the United States. The one-year residency model was developed to address the teacher shortage in a state with growing teacher attrition. Aligned with recent legislation that created a residency license, a traditional educator preparation program examined its strengths and incorporated the most critical needs for novice teacher success to offer a one-year teacher residency as an alternative pathway. The residency model was co-constructed with school district personnel and teacher education faculty to focus on the most critical dimensions of teaching that include planning, instruction, and assessment. After one year, the feedback from school district personnel included high favor for readiness to teach. Residency candidates reported increased self-efficacy. The residency program has implications for future research and potential replication at other institutions of higher education.

Tensions in Designing a Third Space in a Justice-Oriented Teacher Residency: Toward an Authentic Collaborative for Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT Urban teacher residencies and university-district partnerships are growing in popularity in the United States and are vital for the clinical practice of preservice teachers. Because urban residencies and university-district partnerships are situated in historically marginalized communities, they strive to prepare teachers with a mind and skill set oriented toward social justice. The Georgia State CREATE Residency strives to prepare critically conscious and skilled educators for Atlanta. Here, we analyze how stakeholders representing the university, residency administrative team, and K–12 partner school and district leaders collaborated to learn from and design a responsive teacher residency. By comparing findings to AACTE’s recently published 10 essential proclamations of high-quality clinical practice, we argue that administrative learning spaces must exist to surface cultural and historical understanding of where residencies and partnerships are located in order to work toward transformative teacher preparation and induction. A critical analysis of the tensions and contradictions within a teacher residency can aid stakeholders in authentically crossing traditional teacher-education boundaries. Implications for further research are provided.