Dec 2021-Jan 2022_Advisor

DIVERSIFYING

4 CEA ADVISOR DECEMBER 2021 - JANUARY 2022

CONNECTICUT TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAM BRINGS MORE TEACHERS OF COLOR INTO THE CLASSROOM

Connecticut continues to grow its number of teachers of color thanks to a Teacher Residency Program that began at CREC with CEA support. The program, which helps elementary teaching certification, is now operating on a statewide level. With a cohort of 44 this year, it hopes to enroll 60-80 future educators next year. Kindergarten teacher and CREC Education Association President Lisa Cordova, who serves on CEA’s Board of Directors, has been a strong advocate for the program since its inception. “It is well known that there is not enough diversity in the teaching force,” she said at a November news conference with Governor Lamont celebrating the program’s success. “CEA strongly supports innovative teacher preparation programs that help aspiring teachers meet high standards of certification and at the same time address persistent institutional and financial barriers that may impede their dreams of becoming educators.” Learning by doing What distinguishes the Teacher Residency Program is that it provides future educators with 18 months of hands- on training in a mentor teacher’s classroom, along with courses led by classroom teachers and a stipend so that participants can afford to take part. Ninety-eight percent of this year’s cohort are people of color. The program started at CREC with 11 teachers in the first cohort and 14 teachers in the second. It has expanded to other regional education service centers this year, and next year it will open up to Alliance Districts around the state that want to take part. Many districts have already expressed interest. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, who spoke at the press conference, applauded the program that supports future teachers of color. “Many of noncertified school staff with bachelor’s degrees earn their

Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, Governor Ned Lamont, CREC Education Association President and CEA board member Lisa Cordova, state legislators, and others joined teacher residents and mentors for a press conference at Northend Elementary School in New Britain to celebrate the success of the Teacher Residency Program.

the people I worked with, their mother was a teacher, their grandmother—so they saw someone in their family who could map out the blueprint for them. For me, even though all I ever wanted to be was a teacher, I got so much bad information on the front end. I took so many classes that I didn’t need. I found myself starting over and over again—so to have this completely mapped out is tremendous. To have 18 months of practical experience is something that is invaluable. Most teachers go through their whole program and do 10 weeks of student teaching at the end. To be able to get practical experience and ask questions in real time is what teachers want.” She continued, “I wish I had someone at the beginning of my journey to hold my hand and walk me through. I became a good teacher because I was a really bad teacher. I made a whole lot of mistakes and had to do things over and reach out and ask questions. I didn’t have the network of support that I needed at the front end of my career. But we have a unique opportunity to make

sure that doesn’t happen to other teachers. To make sure that when you’re two or three months in and thinking, ‘Did I make a mistake?’ or when a lesson bombs and you’re ready to leave the classroom for good, there’s someone there to say, ‘No, no, this is par for the course.’” Scaling up Hayes has taken her passion for diversifying and strengthening the teaching profession to Congress, where she anticipates an upcoming vote on President Biden’s Build Back Better bill. “There’s a billion dollars in there for teacher pipeline programs to do exactly what is being done here in the state of Connecticut. You can’t just talk about the need for these programs without putting the resources and supports in place.” “With every cohort, the program gets stronger,” Cordova said. “This cohort is in a much better place because we saw what didn’t work, tweaked it, and made it stronger.” Cordova said the program’s big strengths are its focus on high-quality

program’s courses.

In addition, studying for the certification test was an area where she and others identified the need for more support. “The CREC Education Association is now working to implement a one-on-one tutoring program to ensure residents’ success in passing the test,” she said. Cordova is delighted to see the program growing and reaching more potential educators, but she says more must be done to keep teachers in the school districts that need them teaching in the district that sponsors them for three years after receiving their certification, Cordova worries that those districts may lose their new teachers to wealthier school for the long term. Although participants must commit to systems nearby that can pay significantly higher salaries. Generational impact Governor Lamont, Education Committee Co-Chairs Senator Douglas McCrory and Representative Robert Sanchez, and Representative William Petit, who is also a member of the Education Committee, applauded the success that the program is having in recruiting teachers of color, saying that all children should see themselves reflected in their teachers. “It’s been a tough year-and-a- half,” Governor Lamont said. “Kids are here in school, and they need a friend, counselor, and mentor—and we need that more than ever. We Hayes thanked all the partners who made the program possible. “Now I can say that in my family, we went from me being a high school dropout to our being a second- generation college-educated family, with my daughter also being a teacher. So, it not only changes people, it changes families and generations—and education is our best shot at getting it right.” need to work hard to attract teachers, recruit teachers.”

mentor teachers and having classroom teachers lead the

For more information on the program, visit www.ct-trp.org.

CREC Education Association President Lisa Cordova (right) speaks with Congresswoman Jahana Hayes and State Rep. William Petit.