FAQs: About Launching Residency Programs

Q:What is the RRP?

The Residency for Residencies Program, or RRP, is a two-year long program of comprehensive guidance and support for school districts, not-for-profit organizations, and universities who are developing a residency program. The RRP combines an intensive series of learning institutes along with site-based, individualized consulting services. The RRP provides training and support to emerging residency programs in their design year and in the first year of program operation, leveraging the learning from UTRU’s sixteen network partners.

Q:What do RRP 1 and RRP 2 entail?

The RRP supports the growth and development of effective, clinically-rich teacher training programs that prepare teachers committed to working in high-need schools - with a focus on improving student growth and achievement. The RRP supports new and emerging residency programs in successfully defining and executing on the core components of an effective residency program. These components include: mentoring, clinical experience, strategic recruitment and selection, targeted candidate placement, new teacher induction, and local partnerships. UTRU differentiates the RRP for individual programs to ensure that it addresses the unique needs and goals of their local context.

Year 1: RRP 1 is organized into four distinct phases of program design and development. During phase one, RRP participants lay the foundation for a successful residency. Programs receive intensive onsite support to bring together local partners and stakeholders to further develop and strengthen their partnership, to clarify the mission and vision of the residency, and to begin the process of building a program management infrastructure that will facilitate the delivery of an effective residency program. 

During phase two, RRP programs come together to develop a deeper understanding of the UTR model, including the structure and content of effective residency programs. Particular attention is paid to what makes Urban Teacher Residencies qualitatively and quantitatively different from other forms of teacher preparation. This phase provides a variety of structures for learning about high quality UTRs, including: presentations, panels, roundtables, and site visits. RRP participants learn about key components and dilemmas of program design. In order to accelerate program growth and development, UTRU integrates the reflections and insights of our network partners, as well as the curricular and program documents from residencies across the nation. RRP participants also have the opportunity to connect as a cohort to discuss successes and challenges, brainstorm solutions, and share ideas and resources related to the planning of their residency programs.

During phase three, RRP participants will focus on designing and developing their own high quality residency program. Programs will receive intensive, individualized onsite and virtual consulting tailored to their program development needs. Additionally, they will submit drafts of their curricular and program documents for review and feedback from UTRU staff experts. 

Finally, during phase four, RRP participants will come back together to prepare for program launch. During this phase, programs will participate in a comprehensive program inventory to ensure that key design components are in place for a successful launch. The cohort will also engage in presentations of learning and critical friends protocols to support the revision and improvement of core curricular and program documents. This will also be a UTRU quality checkpoint, where programs can receive feedback from UTRU staff experts about areas of strength and challenge with current program design. The information gathered during phase four allows UTRU to provide real-time support to programs prior to launch to target identified challenges.  Supports could include intensive facilitated planning, partnership development or mediation, or other consultative activities to support a successful program launch. 

Year 2:  If the program meets UTRU’s quality checkpoints in year one, we will continue our work with the program in year two. In this second year, RRP participants move into the implementation phase. During this phase, UTRU provides additional content that focuses on program scaling, placement, new teacher induction and post-residency support, and program assessment and evaluation. During this first year of implementation, participants will work intensively with UTRU staff experts, delving deeply into areas of challenge, and receiving targeted support and feedback. RRP 2 is designed to be data-driven and participants use formative assessment data from their programs to identify and analyze pressing dilemmas and to create real-time revisions to key program components. 

Ongoing Individualized Support:  During RRP 1 and 2, UTRU provides individualized support services to address the specific needs and dynamics of each developing program. This provides teams with in-depth consultation on particular aspects of their program design. Support is offered to all RRP participants and can range from helping them to develop a fundraising strategy to reviewing and co-developing the program’s course sequence.

Q:Will we be part of the UTRU Network after participating in the RRP?

If programs meet UTRU’s quality indicators, participants will become partners of the UTRU Network.  Partners can participate in annual Instructional Rounds at a partner site, peer working groups (after completing RRP 1 and 2), UTRU’s Intranet, and the assessment toolkit. Partners may also act as demonstration sites for emerging programs participating in the RRP. All UTRU Network partners contribute to the body of knowledge and the identification of promising practices of residencies through sharing program documentation and curriculum as well as presenting at UTRU events.

Q:How does UTRU recruit and select RRP participants?

UTRU has developed and utilizes a rubric that helps to uncover the capacity of a site to launch and sustain an effective residency program. Rubrics are used with districts, not-for-profits, as well as participating universities, and explore questions related to the purpose of launching a program and its long term vision to staffing structures, financial models, and curriculum. 

UTRU does not work with every program that applies to the RRP and typically partners with four districts annually.

Q:How much does the RRP cost?

For both RRP 1 and RRP 2 and the individualized support services, the cost to participate begins at $120,000 ($80,000 in year 1 and $40,000 in year 2). Cost for services may increase depending upon a site’s readiness and identified areas of challenge that may require additional supports by UTRU. This does not include travel and lodging.