Stepehens County joins UNG Teacher Residency Program

The Stephens County School system took a proactive approach to the continuing Georgia teacher shortage this year, placing college senior education students in the classroom as part of a new program that benefits both local public school systems, and future teachers. 

Stephens County, along with the Barrow and Jackson County school systems, joined the University of North Georgia’s Teacher Residency Program for the 2023-24 school year, and also continued working with a similar program out of Toccoa Falls College. 

The UNG College of Education program, which is now in its second year, allows preservice teachers enrolled in a UNG teacher preparation program to be hired by school districts to be full-time teachers during their senior year. 

According to UNG officials, seniors in the teacher residency program are full-time teachers of record with their own classrooms, receiving at least half the salary of a full-time educator. They are not eligible for full salary because they do not have a baccalaureate degree. They do receive benefits, including admission to teacher retirement. Students apply for the program in the fall semester of their junior year and are selected in the spring of their junior year.

Stephens County Assistant School Superintendent John Stith said Teacher Residency programs offer Stephens County an innovate answer to the teacher shortage, and has been a successful program here locally.

He added that there is a rigorous screening process for the Teacher Residency programs, both at the originating college, and through the Stephens COunty School System process.

Chelsea Southerland, a senior from Athens, Georgia, pursuing a degree in middle grades education with concentrations in science and language arts, is a resident teacher at Stephens County Middle School in eighth-grade physical science.  

Southerland said, “These kids need educators who support them. I want to be here for them and let them know they have someone if they need them.”

Dr. Chantelle Renaud-Grant, department head and professor of Middle Grades, Secondary & Science Education at UNG said, “Many of our students work odd jobs to pay for school. The program can offer teacher candidates income and work experience toward their future careers.”

Forsyth County, Gainesville City, Gwinnett County, and Hall County participated in the UNG Teacher Residency Program during its inaugural year in 2022-23, and returned to join the program again this year, all of them reporting positive experiences with the program. 

 Dr. Sheri Hardee, UNG College of Education dean, said. “The schools are very excited about it. We’ve heard wonderful things from the schools in which our students are working and learning.”

Program applicants are reviewed based upon weighted scores from the completion of a rubric that includes an assessment of the applicant’s responses to essay questions within their application, the applicant’s GPA, academic performance, references, and past Candidate Assessment on Performance Standards (CAPS) and dispositions scores.

While candidates may be provisionally admitted, participation requires that they pass the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) content exams for their teaching field by the start of their internship.

For more information about the program, contact Hardee at [email protected].