Tarleton Boosts Teacher Residency with Sid Richardson Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Thursday, December 23, 2021

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — A $247,134 grant from the Sid Richardson Foundation will help Tarleton State University continue to scale up its successful teacher residency program to a full year from a single semester, benefiting future educators, their mentors and partner school districts.

“We are extremely grateful to the Sid Richardson Foundation for its confidence in our efforts to improve the preparation of future teachers,” said Dr. Kim Rynearson, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “Our students will gain a great deal more experience before they have their own classroom, thanks to the foundation’s generosity.”

Elementary teacher education majors previously completed one semester of student teaching as part of their degree requirements. Student cohorts now complete a year of co-teaching with a professional mentor teacher. And the grant provides salary for a site coordinator who will supervise Tarleton’s clinical teaching residents, further enhancing their professional development.

The grant also brings $500 stipends for clinical teachers and $400 for mentor educators who work directly with them.

“A more robust, immersive experience ensures our clinical teaching residents will be classroom ready on day one of their careers,” Dr. Rynearson said.

Tarleton’s yearlong residency model for elementary school teachers began in April 2020 following grant support ($300,000 over three years) from University School Partnerships for the Renewal of Educator Preparation to place future educators in the Granbury and Huckabay ISDs.

In addition to Granbury and Huckabay, Tarleton has expanded its yearlong residency to the Stephenville, Glen Rose, Fort Worth, La Vega and Waco school districts. Uplift Charter Schools in Fort Worth will be a new partner in 2022.

Faculty and staff in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Tarleton’s Educator Preparation Services will oversee the program and teacher residency placements.

For more information on Tarleton’s College of Education and Human Development, visit www.tarleton.edu/coe/html.

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.
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