Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/556394
SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DIS- TRICT (SFUSD) found solutions to these questions by partnering with two Bay Area universities and the local teachers union to create a "residency" program that goes beyond typical preservice preparation. In San Francisco, a unique partnership among the district, Stanford University, University of San Francisco (USF), and United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) created the San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR) program. It's similar to a medical residency, where res- idents serve under an assisting physician and gain the training required to practice medicine, but teacher res- idents work under the supervision of a veteran teacher while training to become teachers of record in SFUSD. The program has "graduated" 100 new teachers in the past five years. Of these, 96 percent are still teaching. That's quite an accomplishment considering that nation- wide, 20 percent of all new teachers leave the classroom within three years, and in urban districts like San Fran- cisco, close to 50 percent of newcomers flee the profession during their first five years of teaching. Last year, 75 per- cent of the program's residents were teachers of color, and 97 percent of program graduates were teaching in hard-to-staff schools or subject areas. Ashli Duncan is a proud participant of the program. An African American, she reflects the student population at El Dorado Elementary School, where she was a resident last year in the classroom of mentor teacher Anna Pepito. Duncan has no doubt that she's learned more than the first-graders she helped teach last year. "It's been an amazing experience," says Duncan. "To stay with a class for an entire year and be part of their everyday learning was so valuable. I loved that How can low-income, high-poverty schools lure new educators during a teaching shortage? Once hired, how can they be retained? How can schools attract diverse teachers who reflect the community where they teach? What are the best ways to support new teachers and help them thrive? 25 V O L U M E 2 0 I S S U E 1