Teacher Residency Grant

There is an acute shortage of high quality teachers prepared to serve low-income students in urban schools, particularly in special education and in secondary mathematics and science education. To address this shortage, grant funding has been appropriated by the California General Fund to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) that supports the development and implementation of residency programs offered by local educational agencies (LEAs) in collaboration with institutions of higher education (IHEs). To this end, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Michael D. Eisner College of Education at California State University, Northridge are working in partnership to provide a residency program that will enhance the recruitment, retention and support of special education and secondary mathematics and science teachers in high need LAUSD schools.

A teacher residency program is a school-based teacher preparation program in which a resident, for not less than one academic year, teaches alongside an effective teacher and receives concurrent instruction during the year, resulting in effective teaching skills and certification. Teacher residency programs have been specifically designed to address the need for high quality teachers in low-income urban schools and are based on a medical residency model in which professional coursework is paired with classroom experience and guided by principles that include: effective partnerships among higher education institutions, school districts and communities; progression through the program as a cohort to foster a learning community and collaboration; apprenticeship alongside experienced and trained mentor; tightly weaving together education theory and classroom practice; and effective supported induction.

Research findings suggest that well-designed and well-implemented residency programs have long-term benefits in providing highly qualified teachers, particularly prepared to serve diverse populations of students in low-income urban schools. Moreover, studies have shown that residency programs have greater gender and racial diversity and higher teacher retention rates. The goal of the partnership is to increase the quantity and improve the quality of special education personnel, with an overall purpose to impact student achievement in high-need schools. The residency grant is designed to recruit, select and support a total of 25 candidates each year (2019-2023), 15 in special education and 10 in secondary mathematics and science education. Candidates will obtain a credential in 2 semesters through full-time study in the Accelerated Collaborative Teacher Residency (ACT-R) program, completing coursework in the late afternoon and evening and residency assignments with experienced mentor teachers in high need LAUSD schools. Each ACT-R candidate will receive a stipend of $15,000 and must commit to teaching in a high need school in LAUSD for a minimum of four years.