ERIC Number: ED585919
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jul
Pages: 54
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Trading Coursework for Classroom: Realizing the Potential of Teacher Residencies
LiBetti, Ashley; Trinidad, Justin
Bellwether Education Partners
In a teacher residency, candidates receive almost all of their training in their future job site: They spend at least a year in a pre-k through 12 classroom under the guidance of a highly effective mentor teacher. This on-the-job experience is complemented by coursework that is tightly linked to and builds upon their experiences in the classroom. At the end of the residency, residents have deep theoretical and practical knowledge that equips them to become the teacher of record in their own classroom. However the current policies, norms, and practical circumstances governing teacher preparation severely restrict the potential of residencies--in their expansion, effectiveness, and impact--while grossly inflating their cost. It does not need to be that way. Residencies are an incredible opportunity to change the way teachers learn their craft. To realize the potential of residency programs, the field needs to dramatically shift its approach to teacher preparation quality. Specifically, the field must shift away from the current prescriptive, compliance-focused regime with little grounding in research and toward an environment that incentivizes a program's individual evolution and nimbly responds to advances in research. This report puts forth that to achieve this: (1) Accreditation and approval processes must make space for new preparation program models and innovations within current models; (2) Quality standards must be based in research; and (3) Residencies must hold themselves accountable for quality. Taken together, these recommendations seek to create an environment that is more hospitable to residencies, but is designed to similarly benefit all teacher preparation programs, including traditional models.
Descriptors: Teacher Education Programs, On the Job Training, Mentors, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Educational Policy, Costs, Nontraditional Education, Educational Change, Educational Quality, Program Development, Accreditation (Institutions), Standards, Educational Innovation, Accountability, Case Studies, Program Descriptions, Alternative Teacher Certification
Bellwether Education Partners. e-mail: contactus@bellwethereducation.org; Web site: http://bellwethereducation.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Joyce Foundation
Authoring Institution: Bellwether Education Partners
Identifiers - Location: Minnesota; Tennessee; New Jersey; District of Columbia; California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A