Changing Teacher Training With Clinical Residency

One college is joining with area school districts and is changing teacher training with clinical residency.

At Louisiana Tech University’s College of Education, future teachers don’t just spend a semester in student teaching – they have a full year clinical residency at schools in Lincoln or Ouachita Parish. By the time they graduate, they will have completed their first year of teaching.

There are 33 resident teachers at Louisiana Tech. They are paired with an experienced teacher who serves as a mentor. Louisiana is the first state in the USA to make teacher residencies a state mandate. The goal is to improve the quality of teaching, and avoid new teacher burnout in the first few years. Graduates are already beginning their second year of teaching, which makes it easier for them to find jobs.

“They do not stand out from those seasoned teachers in the schools,” said Amy Vessel, the school’s director of clinical and field experiences, curriculum, instruction and leadership.