Vanderbilt’s Peabody College has been awarded nearly $16,000 in grant funding to design a teacher residency program that will pair prospective teachers with effective educators for a yearlong clinical experience as they train to become fully licensed teachers with Metro Nashville Public Schools.
“We have been working with MNPS informally over the past several years to invent a residency built around teaming and collaboration, and working together in ways that break the ‘one teacher, one classroom mold,’” said Barb Stengel, professor of the practice of education and associate chair for teacher education at Peabody. “Specifically, we are linking teacher leadership, teacher development and teacher preparation—all focused on student well-being. We are delighted to have the promise of support from the Tennessee Department of Education to enact this model and test our ideas.”
The TDOE has committed funding to support the development of residency programs, similar to medical residency programs, over the next two years. The Vanderbilt-MNPS team will submit a proposal by mid-January for up to $1 million of additional funding for the full development and implementation of the residency program.
“We must ensure that our state has a strong, vibrant educator pipeline to meet the needs of our schools and provide high-quality instruction for our students,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen. “A teacher residency program uniquely supports an educator pipeline that is aligned with the individual needs in local communities through in-depth, authentic experiences.”
The first cohort of residents is slated to begin in fall 2018.
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As professor and director of secondary education at Peabody, Barb Stengel is an expert on teacher preparation and classroom design. She can comment on teacher training, standardized testing, curriculum implementation, Common Core and more.
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