Dr. Tanya Maloney, Dr. Bree Picower, and Dr. Jennifer Robinson Receive $3,692,915 5-Year Grant

For more information about this program and to apply, please visit: https://www.montclair.edu/graduate/urban-teacher-residency-mat/

Dr. Tanya Maloney, Assistant Professor in Teaching and Learning; Dr. Bree Picower, Associate Professor in Teaching and Learning; and Dr. Jennifer Robinson, Professor and Executive Director of the Center of Pedagogy; recently received a $3,692,915 5-year grant for their project entitled “Teacher Quality Partnership grant for the Urban Teacher Residency at Montclair State University: UTR@MSU.” Dr. Maloney is the Principal Investigator and Drs. Picower and Robinson are co-Principal Investigators.

Montclair State University (MSU), in partnership with the Newark Board of Education (NBOE) and Orange Public Schools (OPS), is submitting this proposal to implement an urban teacher residency program (UTR@MSU). Together with our local education agency (LEA) partners, we will improve student achievement by applying rigorous research-based teacher preparation to the concrete needs of our two LEA partners NPS. This proposal addresses the Absolute Priority: Partnership Grants for the Establishment of Effective Teaching Residency Programs, and Competitive Preference Priority #1, Spurring Investment in Qualified Opportunity Zones.

UTR@MSU is designed to recruit talented individuals, especially people of Color and individuals from other occupations, into the teaching force; improve the quality of both new and prospective teachers; increase teacher retention rates; and ultimately improve student achievement.

Specifically, the goals are: 

1. To recruit and prepare high-quality, dually-certified prospective teachers for partner LEAs (NBOE and OPS) through a residency program for individuals who reflect the diverse communities of Newark and Orange, who have strong academic backgrounds, who have interests in mathematics and science, and who will educate students in special education across PK-12, and in all subject areas.
2. To improve the quality and retention of mentor teachers in partner LEAs through professional development aligned to residency curricular goals.
3. To improve the quality and retention of novice teachers in partner LEAs by supporting program graduates with an induction program, ongoing professional development, and a network of local and national, high quality educators.
4. To disseminate and scale the exemplary teacher residency model by incorporating key elements into MSU’s teacher education program, strengthening the partnership with NBOE’s induction program, extending the model into a new partnership with OPS, and informing the urban teacher education field.

Critical aspects of UTR@MSU include a residency that provides classroom immersion, mentorship, and induction services, combined with professional development that benefits both teacher residents and experienced educators. Additional key features of UTR@MSU include: the use of a cohort structure; strong induction support; collaborative inquiry, and professional learning communities; required collaboration across the University and the schools; focus on the teacher development continuum; and emphasis on a strong connection between theory and practice.

As a result of UTR@MSU, 60 teacher residents will be prepared to serve at our partner schools. Each will receive a Master of Arts in Teaching degree, teaching certification with an endorsement in teaching students with disabilities and will be Highly Qualified in their area of licensure. The program will continue, expand, and refine our teacher residency programming, allowing us to replicate our successful model with OPS and examine scalability.