TRRE is in the fourth year of a five-year US Department of
Education grant. Goals of the TRRE program are to recruit, prepare and retain
highly qualified teachers for rural high need schools in NH. Retention of these
new teaching in TRRE partner schools supported by two years of induction, i.e.
professional development and mentoring. In the process, TRRE has developed
valuable university-school-community partnerships to engage with the shared
goal of enhanced teacher preparation. While we celebrate our success and growth
to date, we simultaneously begin to examine the components of the TRRE program
we hope to sustain into the future.
Currently we are working with four resident cohorts in
varying stages of the program.
Hiring and Retention
Cohort 1 graduates (2017-2018) will enter their third year
of teaching in school districts north of the White Mountains in Fall 2020.
Cohort 2 (2018-2019) graduates will begin their second year of teaching, also
in rural partner school districts in northern NH. Demonstrating 92% percent
retention, these graduates continue to teach in TRRE partner school districts. Key findings from survey results from TRRE
external evaluation, the UNH Carsey School of Public Policy, point to data in
support of the effectiveness of the TRRE teacher residency program and how well
TRRE residents are prepared to teach.
Induction
TRRE graduates emerge as community leaders as some TRRE
graduates from Cohort 1 and 2 give back to the program as induction mentors for
subsequent TRRE cohort graduates. Two have joined as members of the Advisory
Board.
Cohort 3 will continue with TRRE through induction with a kickoff
event this summer. All TRRE graduates have the opportunity during induction to
participate in a Science Inquiry Course offered by our partner UNH Cooperative
Extension. Other induction professional development activities have included an
Arctic Wednesday trip up Mount Washington hosted by the Mount Washington
Observatory, a Computer Aided Design workshop hosted by White Mountain Science
Inc. and the opportunity to attend the NH Learning Initiative’s 2019
conference. Graduates may choose their own
professional development opportunities at a variety of conferences with support
from TRRE and TRRE partners.
TRRE’s induction program continued to grow when we offered a
Community Connection Series conference focused on Universal Design for Learning
in June 2019. Over 60 educators attendees included TRRE partner school members,
TRRE graduates, residents and teaching mentors. The TRRE management team
designed the 2020 Community Connection Series conference around Social
Emotional Learning; although the 2020 face-to-face event had to be cancelled,
TRRE faculty plan to integrate the content into 2020-2021 induction and
residency coursework.
Residency
Cohort 3 residents (2019-2020) are the first cohort to be placed
between the North and the Lakes regions of NH. Eleven Cohort 3 residents are working
on coursework in their second summer institute. Coursework in the second summer
features two special education classes. The UNH Education Department has given
Cohort 3 letters of eligibility for teacher certification upon graduation
September 1 and they are midst of the interview and hiring process. While they
cherish the relationships developed in the TRRE cohort model of teacher preparation
and value the opportunity to earn an M.Ed. and teacher certification in a rural
setting, they are also eager to begin their career as new teachers. Seventy
percent of Cohort 3 residents have accepted teaching position for next year as
of June 30. Interviews are ongoing and we anticipate further hiring over the
remainder of the summer.
Recruitment inquiries for Cohort 4 exceeded our expectations
and as a result Cohort 4 is the
largest cohort to date in the TRRE program with 15
residents. Cohort 4 (2020 – 2021) residents began the 15-month TRRE program on
May 20 with online orientation and a June meeting with teacher mentors. For
more on Cohort 4, read our Branches article, “TRRE Cohort 4 Activities” in the July issue of Branches!
Figuratively, if you image TRRE as a living tree, the first
year of the grant (2016-2017) was the seed that sprouted, the second year
(2017-2018) the program continued to grow. In years two through four
(2018-2020) TRRE began to bear fruit, thanks to the nurturing and support of
all of our partners. We are looking ahead to beyond year five, grant and into
the future.
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