Teacher Residency Programs

What do doctors and teachers have in common? A face value comparison might suggest that there is not much overlap but if we look from the perspective of those served by either profession, there is quite a bit of commonality. Both serve the public, neither get to choose their clientele, both have to navigate cultural and social barriers in providing essential services and the list goes on. Doctors are trained academically but enter residency to apply those skills in what are often unpredictable environments that cannot be effectively simulated by quiz-like hypotheticals. Should teachers do the same? Check out the article discussing the benefits of teacher residency programs.

To continue to tackle the teacher shortage, I believe California needs more strong teacher residency programs. Nearly 37% of U.S. public schools experienced at least one teacher vacancy, contributing to nearly half of public school students entering the 2023-24 school year behind grade level in at least one subject. Amid these shortages, California is still reeling from the repercussions of surpassing 10,000 vacancies during the 2021-22 school year. The effects are felt even more so in under-resourced, Latino or Black communities.

edsource.org/…