WestEd News
New Study to Evaluate Kern Rural Teacher Residency
WestEd was recently awarded a contract to evaluate the Kern Rural Teacher Residency (KRTR), designed to prepare new educators to effectively teach STEM in rural schools. The ultimate goal of the KRTR is to create a pipeline of teachers motivated to pursue and retain rural teaching opportunities.
The KRTR represents a partnership with California State University, Bakersfield, and three local, rural school districts — Buttonwillow, Lamont, and Semitropic.
WestEd’s Learning Innovations Program is conducting an evaluation of the KRTR program, gathering formative data from program leadership and participants to see how the work is progressing, what areas are most successful, and what aspects of the program can be improved.
In the final years of grant implementation, WestEd will study the summative results of the program on teacher retention in rural schools and student-level academic outcomes.
“I’m pleased to be part of this important initiative,” says Project Director Jaclyn Tejwani. “Teacher retention is a major problem affecting many children living in rural communities in Kern County. My goal is to provide KRTR leadership with valuable feedback and recommendations so they can fulfill their purpose of improving the quality and retention of teachers in and around Bakersfield.”
WestEd’s four-year evaluation is funded by CSU Bakersfield’s Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Posted on June 23, 2016