063-Annual-Report-2023-v13 Final pages - Flipbook - Page 9
Teacher resident William Cooper ‘23 and his
mentor teacher, Laura Gurley ‘04, collaborate on a
math lesson during Cooper’s residency at Mauldin
High School. Cooper accepted a job at the school
before he completed the residency program.
FIVE YEARS OF TEACHER RESIDENCY = STAYING POWER
The College of Education continues to defy odds.
At a time when enrollment in colleges of education
is down 30-70% across the nation, enrollment in
Clemson’s undergraduate education programs has
increased by 50% over the past five years.
Clemson’s bachelor’s-to-master’s teacher residency
program is doing its part to recruit and retain
prospective teachers by providing them with a
yearlong residency with an experienced mentor
teacher. The program has grown substantially since
2017, nearly tripling from an initial cohort of 23
students to 70 in the program as Clemson begins the
2023-2024 academic year. So far, the program has
graduated 217 students, and 97 percent of those
graduates became employed as teachers. The threeyear retention rate of teacher residency graduates is
95 percent.
While the Teacher Residency program is helping to
reverse worrying trends in teacher recruitment and
retention, the College provides other pathways to
teacher certification that include diverse internship
experiences. Our traditional student teaching
experience far exceeds the state’s minimum
requirements for certification.
The keys to all of the College’s programs are
purposeful, challenging and diverse school
placements that begin during the student’s first year.
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