Boston, Chicago Teacher 'Residencies' Gaining Notice

Candidates Spend Year Working in Classrooms, Overseen by Mentors

Urban teacher residencies, which focus heavily on classroom-based training and on-the-job support for new teachers, are attracting attention as promising ways to staff city schools.

A study by the Washington-based Aspen Institute and the Center for Teaching Quality, in Hillsborough, N.C., released last month, explores the Boston Teacher Residency Program and the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago . The study found that 90 percent of the teachers entering the Boston program were still teaching in the district after three years. In Chicago, that figure was 95 percent.

Another report , prepared by the Center for Teaching Quality and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and released last week, concludes that the time is right for the education community to embrace residency programs and...