A report from the American Institute for Research has revealed that 86 percent of teachers who trained with Urban Teacher Residency United, an intensive teacher preparation program used throughout California were more likely to stay in the teaching profession.

Urban Teacher Residency United works with San Francisco Unified School District and Aspire Public Schools to much success by way of teacher retention, according to EdSource.org.

"Two of the key reasons that teachers who are trained through Urban Teacher Residency United remain in the profession are tied to the program’s highly selective requirements for applicants and extensive student teaching time in the classroom, the report said."

The rigorous program only allows 11 percent of applicants into its program and provides selected members an academic year with a mentor and master's level course-work towards a degree, the article said.

When compared to a similarly selective program, Teach for America, the retention rate was significantly less and can be tied to less use of student teaching time.

"The program's would-be teachers are provided with four weeks of student teaching in the classroom. That short amount of time in the classroom, said the report, may be one reason why only 28 percent of the program’s teachers remain in the profession after five years."

According to EdSource, the report also made several suggestions to policy makers and teacher training programs for how to best train teachers in order to keep retention rates high:

• Build consensus among teacher preparation programs about what new teachers need to know before they enter the classroom.
• States should increase the amount of time required for student teaching and provide professional development for teachers who mentor them.
• States should use newer, more practice-focused licensure assessments, which are more rigorous tests than those used in many states.

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

06/12/2015