Urban Teacher Residency Program Research Articles

Teacher Candidates’ Conceptions and Practices of Computational Thinking for Equity

This study documents novice science and math teachers’ developing pedagogical approaches to integrating computational thinking (CT) and data into their courses to support educational equity and social justice. The 10 novice teacher candidates (TCs) studied were part of an urban teacher residency program that empowered them with an asset-based pedagogy we describe as “CT for Equity.” Drawing on coursework and interviews as data, we asked three questions: What are teachers’ conceptions of CT? What are their CT instructional practices? And how did their students respond to those practices? To explore conceptions of CT, we used Kafai et al.’s (2020) articulation of three frames of CT – cognitive, situated, and critical approaches – and found that the TCs’ conceptions do not narrowly fit into one of the three frames, but rather they mix and match components of the perspectives to support a range of student outcomes, from transferable skills to preparing youth to explore social justice issues. We also identified a small but powerful set of core practices that the teachers used to support learning outcomes, including integrating data on locally and socially relevant issues. We present group-level trends and three classroom stories, or profiles of practice, to illustrate the generative ways TCs blended priorities from the three frames in instruction. The diversity in the TCs’ conceptions and practices deepens understandings of asset-based pedagogies in CT by shining light on the rich and varied ways that math and science teachers meet the needs of their minoritized students.

Learning to co-teach: understanding the co- in a mentored co-teaching activity

PurposeCo-teaching is a foundational mentoring model used in teacher residency programs in urban classrooms throughout the United States of America. Beyond the basic understanding of co-teaching in categorizing classroom models, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate the dialectical tensions manifested in mentored co-teaching activities through the lens of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT).Design/methodology/approachDesigned as a qualitative case study of 17 pairs of teaching-residents and mentor-teachers, the authors used thematic analysis to scrutinize archival interview data in an urban teacher residency program located in the largest megalopolis of the USA Northeast. The authors used CHAT-based concept coding to analyze the interview narratives from participants across different secondary school placements as they reflected on their co-teaching philosophy and the relationships they built.FindingsThe authors found that for teaching-residents and mentor-teachers to co-develop as co-teachers, they jointly must learn to resolve the dialectical tensions of unbalanced classroom ownership vs added co-working responsibilities, breaking from routine so that a partnership can grow. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the prefix co- should be understood as (1) shifts in thinking that transcend the status quo and (2) the orchestration of human capital to change norms.Originality/valueThis new understanding of the prefix co- allows teacher education programs to better mediate the dialectical tensions experienced by co-teachers in a mentored co-teaching activity, from individual teacher learning (e.g. a pair/dyad comprising one teaching-resident and one mentor-teacher) to collective co-learning across activity systems (e.g. partnership-based teacher education).

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.

Theory-Practice Divides and the Persistent Challenges of Embedding Tools for Social Justice in a STEM Urban Teacher Residency Program

This study examined how the concept of social justice was operationalized in the university coursework of students enrolled in an urban teacher residency program that aims to diversify the teaching corps and prepare secondary STEM teachers for urban classroom environments. Based on analysis of 39 syllabi and interviews with nine faculty members, we found that challenges in embedding social justice theory with STEM content knowledge were attributable to the lack of a shared definition among program faculty, and external pressures imposed by state teacher credentialing requirements. We conclude with recommendations for practice by suggesting ways that rigorous STEM content knowledge can be combined with locally and historically contextualized social critique and tools for change in order to support teachers in enacting justice-oriented practice in communities.

Using multiple measures of teaching quality to strengthen teacher preparation

We argue that teacher preparation programs considering approaches to assess teaching quality should choose measures that appropriately represent the complexity of teaching, have formative value in supporting teacher candidates develop as highly qualified teachers and consider the context, mission, and people that the program desires to serve. The authors are part of a research team working with an urban teacher residency program housed in a university’s teacher education program. The increased focus on clinical experience and mandated accountability that accompany federal grants created a fertile space to experiment with different types of measures and data collection approaches, well beyond what is typical in traditional teacher education programs. In this essay, we discuss the philosophy and considerations that informed the selection of these measures in the program, and the processes that were followed to use this data in ways that consider the complexity of teaching and honor the value of data as a tool for program improvement.

A Matter of Perspectives: Studying the Persistence of Fourth-Year Urban Teachers From Two Preparation Programs

Recognizing the pressing problem of low teacher retention in urban schools, this qualitative study explores how two post-baccalaureate teacher education programs at the same university prepare candidates to persist in the profession. Through data analysis, it became clear that graduates of the Urban Teacher Residency program approached their students with an asset-based perspective, whereas graduates of the Master’s of Science in Teaching program often used deficit language to describe their students. We explore potential reasons for these varying approaches and consider how these perceptions relate to persistence. We conclude with recommendations for program design and delivery that emphasize asset-based approaches.

Using Content Analysis to Compare a U.S. Urban Teacher Residency to a Finnish Teacher Education Program

In the United States, how to provide a high-quality education to all students has been a focal discussion, especially in urban settings. One potential solution that has emerged to confront this issue involves urban teacher residency (UTR) programs that provide innovations concerning the recruitment, preparation, and retention of teachers in high-need urban schools. In this study, we conducted a content analysis and compared steering documents of a UTR program in California with materials from a teacher-training program in Finland. Despite differences in both the legislative and local contexts under which the two programs operate, we found many similarities in both the steering documents and course offerings of these two teacher-training programs. For example, both promote aspects of social justice and are research-based. Furthermore, both offer a variety of types of courses, such as those emphasizing the pedagogical bases of education and research studies in education.

Urban Residents’ Place-Based Funds of Knowledge: An Untapped Resource in Urban Teacher Residencies

Teachers who attended urban schools as students are uniquely positioned to understand both the structural context that urban schools operate within and the many funds of knowledge that urban students bring to school. The purpose of this study is to examine the funds of knowledge that individuals who have been students in urban schools and now wish to teach in a particular city in the northeastern United States bring to an urban teacher residency program. In this article, we describe these urban residents’ funds of knowledge, and argue that residents describe an emerging place-based pedagogical content knowledge.

Acknowledging Potential in Preservice Teachers’ Collaborative Practices

ABSTRACTWhen the research team began its qualitative exploration of what and how a cohort of preservice elementary/early childhood teachers’ in the University of California, Los Angeles' IMPACT Urban Teacher Residency Program learned, the 12-member team did not anticipate the degree to which preservice teachers would credit peers in their learning. On the urging of participants, the team began to systematically consider peer interactions. Curious about coherence in teacher education experiences, the team also attended to the program’s promotion of collaborative approaches. This article details ways that preservice teachers collaborated, inside the classroom and beyond, to support their learning and teaching. It also explores university features that supported collaboration including curricular inclusions, cohort models, student-centered seminars, mentor relationships, consistent modeling and feedback, and placement swaps. Findings suggest that peer relationships may be especially important to preservice teachers’ learning and also that university messages can reinforce the value and practices of collaboration.

Curriculum, Social Justice, and Inquiry in the Field: Investigating Retention in an Urban Teacher Residency

ABSTRACTThis qualitative study analyzes the retention data of an urban teacher residency program, a recent approach to developing quality teachers. The authors identify patterns of movers, leavers, and stayers and draw on interview data to better understand residents’ (program graduates) perspectives on ways the program informs their practice after graduation. Using the university conceptual framework of curriculum, inquiry, and social justice, the authors examine how residents might demonstrate retention and practice of key concepts and principles that undergirded their residency program. This study furthers our understanding of how residencies support the preparation of new teachers in high-needs schools and shortage areas.

Inquiry in the Round? Education Rounds in an Teacher Residency Program

ABSTRACTIn education, the Rounds model provides opportunities for engaging educators as communities of learners who examine instructional issues for purposes of understanding and improving them. Over the past 10 years, Rounds have been implemented in school-based experiences in teacher preparation programs across the nation. Yet despite recent interest, there is little description of the opportunities and challenges of implementing the Rounds in teacher preparation. The purpose of this article is to describe Education Rounds implemented in one urban teacher residency program. To do so, we explore the emerging literature on Rounds and the residency program’s process of implementing Rounds. We present examples of residents’ experiences with Rounds, and we discuss tensions that arise when implementing Rounds as an innovative pedagogical approach in teacher preparation.

Coherence, dissonance, and personal style in learning to teach

Concern that practical realities in classrooms will ‘trump’ theories has led some universities to design residency teacher education programs that maximize coherence between university coursework and field experiences. Yet, some research suggests that student teachers can learn from dissonance. This qualitative case study of one cohort in an urban teacher residency program that sought to maximize coherence asks how the apprentice teachers experienced connections between the university and the field. Although apprentices experienced dissonance, they nonetheless expressed coherent philosophies aligned with university values. Coherence was something that individual apprentices constructed for themselves as they developed a personal ‘style’ or way of teaching in a program that welcomed their prior identities. Coherence was achieved through early development of a personal professional identity, not perfect alignment between field and university.

Freezing Out Injustice: Using ICE to Foster Democratic Inquiry

In an urban teacher residency program, preservice science teachers experience what it's like to teach for social justice through the use of a democratic inquiry stance, thus moving toward an understanding of teaching for social justice as larger than one individual teacher in a classroom.

Is Experience the Best Teacher? Extensive Clinical Practice and Mentor Teachers’ Perspectives on Effective Teaching

This article presents a study of mentor teachers who work with residents in an urban teacher residency program in New York City. Forty-six mentor teachers (i.e., cooperating teachers) were asked to describe moments of effective mentoring, as well as their own strengths, weaknesses, and goals as mentors. Implicit in mentor teachers’ descriptions of effective mentoring were their perspectives on effective teaching. These perspectives offer much insight into the challenges of clinically rich teacher preparation for a particular urban context, raising several dilemmas that should be considered amid the calls for teacher preparation that is deeply rooted in field practice.

“Context-Specific” Teacher Preparation for New York City

In this article, we examine a residency program that was developed to prepare teachers specifically for New York City schools—the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Urban Teacher Residency program. This focused preparation on the particular urban context of New York City provides us with a unique opportunity to examine the nature of preparation—how such targeted preparation is conceptualized and organized, what it offers, and what might be missing and need to be strengthened. We also describe the development of a yearlong course aimed at preparing teachers for New York, which emerged from this study.

“Teachers are works in progress”: A mixed methods study of teaching residents’ beliefs and articulations of teaching for social justice

Teacher candidates’ beliefs about teaching for social justice affect the ways in which they act with students, schools, and communities. There is a growing body of research on teacher candidates’ beliefs of teaching for social justice, however there is limited research on larger samples over the course of teacher preparation. This mixed method study examines the beliefs and articulations of teaching for social justice of two cohorts of teaching residents who completed an urban teacher residency program. Findings suggest that residents developed nuanced ways of articulating and generally left the program endorsing ideas related to teaching for social justice.

Exploring Inquiry in the Third Space: Case Studies of a Year in an Urban Teacher-Residency Program

ABSTRACTUsing case studies, we describe what happens from novice to apprentice when preservice teachers learn to teach in an urban teacher-residency (UTR) program with a focus on inquiry. Our UTR operates within a “third space” in teacher education, seeking to realign traditional power relationships and to create an alternate arena where the roles of the university, school, teacher candidate, and community can be reimagined. This third space encourages preservice teachers to be inquirers themselves in order for them to support their students as inquirers.

Support and assist: approaches to mentoring in a yearlong teacher residency

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine mentor teachers’ approaches to mentoring preservice teachers in a yearlong teacher residency program (TRP).Design/methodology/approach– This multiple-methods study examined 15 mentor teachers’ approaches over the course of a year in an urban TRP through the lens of Wang and Odell’s (2002) framework for mentoring. Data sources included mentors’ self-assessments over three points in time across one academic year. These self-assessments included numerical ratings of practice (quantitative) as well as open-ended rationales and goal setting (qualitative).Findings– Mentors predominately provided support and technical assistance to the residents learning to teach, drawing on humanistic, and situated apprentice perspectives on mentoring. They worked to develop residents’ self-confidence and exposed residents to a range of practices and school contexts. Glimmers of a more critical constructive approach were apparent in some mentors’ discussions of reflection and collaboration.Research limitations/implications– This study informs the work of teacher education programs as they develop mentoring structures that align with program visions, expand notions of mentoring, and consider the many roles of a mentor teacher.Originality/value– Increased emphasis on clinical experiences for preservice teachers highlights the need to attend to the practices of the mentor teachers with whom they work. These mentors, as field-based teacher educators, play a critical role in teacher education, and teacher education programs need to support their professional development as mentors. Understanding mentors’ approaches to mentoring is necessary in order to provide this support.

A Balancing Act in the Third Space: Graduate-Level Earth Science in an Urban Teacher-Residency Program

ABSTRACTThis article describes a museum-based urban teacher-residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject-specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates. In the museum-based program, graduate-level science courses and research experiences are designed and implemented specifically for the UTR by active Earth and Space research scientists that account for almost half of the program's faculty. Because these courses and research experiences are designed specifically for the teacher candidates, they are different from many science courses and research experiences available to preservice teachers in a university setting. At the same time, the museum-based program is the only UTR, to our knowledge, to incorporate such a rigorous science curriculum, and this article considers some possible advantages and disadvantages of the program's approach. Because the museum-based program's science curriculum is balanced against the educational coursework and teaching residencies that necessarily form the program's backbone, the museum's approach to strengthening the teacher candidate's science background may also inform the faculty and administration of other UTRs in cases in which one of their program goals is to further expand their teacher candidate's content knowledge and practical subject matter experience.

Making the leap to teacher: Pre-service residents, faculty, and school mentors taking on action research together in an urban teacher residency program

This article explores what happens when school mentors and university faculty co-facilitate a cycle of action research with pre-service science teacher residents in an urban teacher residency. The voices of all three constituents describe the process of doing action research together in community and its impact on their practice. The pre-service teacher residents narrate their questions, how they explore them, and highlight their findings. They discuss how the use of action research as a methodology deepened and extended their development as critically reflective practitioners. Finally we discuss the implications of the inquiry stance of action research for both the individuals and the schools and districts of which they are a part.