The Montana Teacher Residency Program prepares teachers to best serve their students. Through undergraduate coursework, learning labs, targeted support, and a yearlong apprenticeship in the classroom, residents connect theory to practice and gain the skills of highly effective practitioners who will be ready on day one to successfully lead their own classrooms.
Residents begin the program with a two-day orientation, then enter a one-year in-school apprenticeship under a Teacher-Leader. During the year, Residents engage in learning labs sponsored by the Office of Public Instruction while simultaneously completing coursework to earn a bachelor’s degree from their Montana university. In exchange for committing to teach in a rural Montana school district for three years, Residents receive a stipend, partial tuition support, and district-provided housing assistance.
At each Residency site, teams of educators work together to support one another. The project aims to place at least two residents with two teacher-leaders in each school. The project launched in fall 2022 and will begin year three during the 2024-25 school year.
The Montana Teacher Residency Program is the first of its kind in the state. The program was co-developed by representatives from the Montana University System, the Office of Public Instruction, school districts, the Montana School Boards Association, legislators, and residency model experts from Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The Region 17 Comprehensive Center has facilitated many think-tank sessions since October 2021.