Foto

Editorial: A new track for teachers – and students

Traditional college curriculums for training school teachers are sometimes criticized for focusing too much on theoretical concepts that don’t stand up to testing in the real world of the classroom.

Some alternative routes to the profession, which emphasize practical experience and learning by doing, lack a solid grounding in educational theory and may not expose the candidates to student teaching opportunities.

In the early 2000s, school districts in Chicago, Boston and Denver came up with a different path: teacher residency programs, modeled on medical school residencies. Graduate students, in addition to taking classes, are embedded in an urban classroom for a full year. They get mentorship from veteran teachers, real classroom experience and a stipend to help them afford graduate school.

The concept spread to other cities. This year the University at Buffalo’s Graduate School of Education launched its own residency, with 13 students in the inaugural class, and it has the potential to bring a major benefit to the Buffalo Public Schools.

The Buffalo schools’ teaching ranks have long suffered from a lack of diversity. An estimated 87% of the teachers are white, while two-thirds of the students are black or Latino. Students complain about not having teachers “who look like us.”

It’s a serious deficiency. Minority children in Buffalo and around the country desperately need role models whose examples they can follow. That includes police officers, firefighters, business leaders and educators.

The good news here is that eight of the 13 students in the inaugural residency class are minorities. Going forward, 15 to 20 graduate students will be chosen in subsequent years of the grant, for a total of 70.

Suzanne Rosenblith, dean of the graduate school, had the diversity problem in mind when she approached Buffalo Superintendent Kriner Cash about partnering in the program. Cash’s response was, “Let’s go.”

Urban districts also struggle at times to attract or retain teachers, some of whom leave for jobs in suburban districts. In UB’s program, the residents are required to remain with Buffalo schools for three years. (That’s one more year than the requirement with Teach for America, another lateral-entry teacher training program.) In return, they get an $18,000 stipend plus a partial scholarship for tuition.

The residents also will learn the rigors and rewards of teaching in an urban classroom. Starting in September, each will work with a veteran teacher at one of four Buffalo schools: South Park and Hutchinson Central Technical high schools, BUILD Community School and School 6.

“It’s challenging, hard work, so this program will give them a much more robust induction into the profession,” Cash told The News.

UB was awarded a total of $4 million in grants over five years from the U.S. Education Department and the Cullen Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on education in Buffalo, to get the residency program off the ground. Canisius College started a residency of its own last year, partnering with Buffalo charter schools.

Teacher retention is a leading concern for urban districts. Research has shown nationally that teachers trained in residencies are more likely to stay in their school districts longer, as well as remain in the teaching profession.

Rosenblith says residency programs typically have retention rates in their districts between 70 and 90%. If the UB program hits those numbers it will be a victory for the Buffalo schools.