Connecticut’s state college and university system will spend $4.2 million over the next year to build and expand teacher residency programs, as the state continues to wrestle with a shortage of classroom teachers. The money, which comes from an anonymous donor, funds the second year of the pro gram. Gov. Ned Lamont joined leaders of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) on Friday morning at Barack H. Obama Magnet University School on Farnham Avenue to announce the second year of funding for CSCU’s Excellence in Teacher Residency Project, speaking to a cafeteria filled with the school’s fourth graders. “Every child in Connecticut deserves a well-prepared teacher who stays,” said Dr. Aynsley Diamond, CSCU’s vice chancellor of academic affairs. “Our job is to prepare those teachers and to keep making that preparation better.” The project is run in partnership with the National Association of Higher Education Systems, a national nonprofit representing public university systems. In a teacher residency, an aspiring teacher spends a full school year in a real classroom, working alongside an experienced mentor teacher before leading a classroom of their own. Residents are better prepared on day one, Diamond said, and more likely to stay in the profession. The project’s first year focused on research and planning at Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State universities, including a review of how each campus prepares teachers. The second year, which launched two weeks ago, adds CT State Community College and Charter Oak State College, and moves the effort into launching and expanding residency programs. Diamond said some of the biggest barriers to residencies are fairly paying mentor teachers and making the residency year affordable for teacher candidates and can’t be solved by any one college alone. The second year will include help for campuses in developing long-term funding models, including cost-sharing with school districts and building a statewide coalition with the state Department of Education around residency programs. CSCU aims to have a coordinated residency system in place by 2029. Lamont said residencies get future teachers “out of the classroom up there, and into the classroom here.” “When they learn in the classroom, they learn from a master teacher, they learn better, and they’re much more likely to stay in Connecticut,” he said. “Much more likely to stay on as teachers, because we need teachers every day.” CSCU is the state’s largest public provider of new teachers, awarding more than 1,200 education-related credentials last year, according to interim Chancellor Natalie Braswell. Some campuses already run residencies. Eastern Connecticut State University President Karim Ismaili said Eastern’s teacher candidates are completing full-year residencies in five districts: Windham, Coventry, Norwich, Woodstock, and the Connecticut Technical High School system with tuition support. Central Connecticut State University Interim President Kimberly Kostelis said Central launched its first residency cohort in 2023 in special education, recruiting paraprofessionals who could keep working while earning their certification. Central now plans to expand beyond special education. Friday’s host school is itself a training ground for teachers. Barack H. Obama Magnet University School, a city public school, is run in partnership with Southern Connecticut State University. Principal Jamie Baker said at least 100 Southern students training to become teachers work in the building every year. “Great teachers don’t just happen,” Baker said. “They are developed, they are mentored and supported, and we do this right here on our campus.” Dr. Stephen Hegedus, now provost at Western Connecticut State University, helped create the school during his decade as dean of Southern’s College of Education. He said the grant is an important step, but that more is needed, including help with costs for students, faster pathways for paraprofessionals to become special education teachers and funding for career changers entering the profession. “Today is not just about bringing more people into the profession,” Hegedus said. “It’s about preparing teachers who understand the communities they serve.” WCSU’s Dr. Stephen Hegedus at Barack Obama School on Friday: “Today is not just about bringing more people into the profession. It’s about preparing teachers who understand the communities they serve.” Credit: Brandon Cortes photos The post Teacher Residencies Boosted By $4.2M  appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less