A brief history...
The Maine Teacher Residency Program is an infrastructure project to scale-up a successful pilot program developed during the pandemic. Congressionally Designated funding is for program design, coordination, recruitment, and training to create 100+ district-based teacher residencies across the state. It expands the successful model that Biddeford School District developed during the 2020-2021 school year with student teaching interns from USM, UMF, UM, and UNE. The model targets employed student teaching interns, emergency and conditionally certified teachers and connects them with teacher education programs to strengthen their preparation and improve their chances of continuing on as teachers. The proposal funds strategic start up positions and builds capacity statewide for mentor teachers and administrators. The project coordinator and graduate assistant positions coordinate course offerings across system campuses and identify where additional course sections are needed to accommodate teacher residents’ certification needs. The project director will work with district administrators to identify opportunities for mentored, mediated job positions that help meet the teacher shortages while providing supported clinical paid internship positions for the teacher residents.
Project Mission
The Maine Teacher Residency Program supports student teaching candidates, emergency, and conditionally certified teachers and connects them with teacher education programs to strengthen their preparation and retention.
There are five key initiatives for the teacher residency model in Maine.
Cohort support for mentor teachers through once a month online workshops facilitated by UM faculty resulting in microcredential in 2023-2024.
School district support for crafting job positions that recruit new teachers and reinvigorate veteran teachers as mentors.
Coordination of University of Maine System teacher education course offerings for accessibility for teaching candidates working full time in schools.
Development of a teacher performance assessment system to ensure consistency in the quality of teacher preparation across the dispersed model of teacher residencies.
Collaborative, cross-constituency advisory board to build infrastructure that is rigorous while being responsive to local contexts.
Learn more about how the residency can be a benefit to you by exploring the following links!