FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, July 16, 2021

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University has been named to the Texas Education Agency Vetted Teacher Residency Program.

The program includes 14 Texas educator preparation schools that offer high-quality teacher residencies. It was established to help partner school districts acquire state and federal grants.

“Upon implementation of the teacher residency program we immediately saw the positive impact the experience had on our teacher candidates,” said Dr. Kim Rynearson, Dean of Tarleton’s College of Education. “We are delighted to be included on the TEA’s Vetted Teacher Residency Programs list because now our school district partners can seek additional funding to support the preparation of teachers.”

A teacher residency pairs a teacher candidate with a mentor teacher for a year. Tarleton residents satisfy their clinical teaching requirements by co-teaching in a K-12 classroom for at least three days per week.

“The Vetted Teacher Residency Program helps support the efforts of our teacher candidates, allowing them to take advantage of experienced classroom mentors on their way to a career in education,” said Dr. Karen Murray, Tarleton Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Teacher residencies take place at the undergraduate level and support a variety of certification areas. In some cases, the school district provides a stipend during the year-long residency.

Tarleton, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M represent The Texas A&M University System in the program.

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.