NMPED receives $8M grant for teacher residency programs

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded an $8 million grant to the state Public Education Department to bolster its teacher residency programs, the latter announced Tuesday.

The five-year grant will be used, along with state dollars already being poured into teacher residency programs, to help increase the number of residents, fill specialized voids and improve the quality of the programs.

Teacher residency programs aim to give aspiring teachers a stipend of at least $35,000 to spend a year in a classroom alongside experienced teachers to better prepare them for their own careers.

“Having aspiring teachers observe and assist experienced teachers benefits everyone in the education process,” Education Secretary Arsenio Romero said in a news release. “We are grateful for the opportunity to advance this program and further develop a coherent, high-quality teacher preparation system.”

There are 282 teacher residents across New Mexico, the PED said. Last school year, 226 people completed teacher residency programs. Each year, the department estimates the grant would build capacity to provide for 50 more teacher residents.

The grant would also make available additional $7,500 incentives for up to 100 people each year to become licensed in specialized areas, such as bilingual or special education.

The PED said the grant will also fund other things, including an evaluation to ensure the quality of how residency programs are implemented and efforts to make them more standardized.

Teacher residency programs, the PED says, help address longstanding teacher recruitment issues. According to a snapshot report released by New Mexico State University in October, there were 751 teacher vacancies across the state.