Abstract
This promising practice describes an innovative approach to teacher education that a partnership among three rural districts and a university implemented through a rural teacher residency program . The Kern Rural Teacher Residency (KRTR) program in Kern County, California, was a five-year, federally funded grant program at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB). KRTR was a district-serving teacher education program that paired a rigorous full-year classroom apprenticeship with graduate-level educational content. In a multi-year study that utilized surveys, focus groups, document review, and extant data analysis, findings indicated that, through participation in the residency, completers felt prepared to teach in rural schools. Residency completers have a three-year retention rate of 93% and a five-year retention rate of 86%. Due to the success of KRTR, other districts in the central valley partnered with CSUB to develop their own residency programs.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Valente, R.,
Tejwani, J.,
Pedroza, V.,
&
Cartznes, S.
(2022).
Increasing Rural Teacher Preparedness Through a Teacher Residency.
The Rural Educator, 43(4), 58-61.
https://doi.org/10.55533/2643-9662.1333
