Chapter 6: Exploring Teacher Residency Candidates’ Perceptions of Preparation to Support Immigrant Students in Elementary Classrooms

Building on the medical residency model, teacher residencies provide an alternative pathway to teacher certification grounded in deep clinical training. The work described in this chapter details how a university–school district– community partnership supported a clinically rich residency model to prepare teacher candidates to work with linguistically and culturally diverse students. We collected interviews with current and former residents to explore their perceptions on areas of strength and improvement in the components of our residency model in preparing them to work with K–6 immigrant student populations. Findings revealed that residents who were placed in mainstream, English-only class, especially at higher elementary grades, reported not having had much exposure to immigrant students, especially if they were newcomers or classified as beginner English language learners (ELLs). These classrooms did not often provide specific scaffolding or differentiation for ELLs or newcomer immigrant students. On the other hand, residents who engaged directly and frequently with linguistic and cultural diversity felt more prepared to work with immigrant populations. In particular, bilingual classrooms afforded the greatest degree of significant interaction and practice for our residents as they taught and learned with immigrant students and families. Residents who pursued additional certification in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) or bilingual education were also more prepared. Whereas residents’ perceptions of readiness to work with immigrant students and communities varied based on experience, they all reported gains regarding scaffolding instruction for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds through deep clinical practice. We end the chapter with recommendations for programmatic reform directed at preparing teachers to work with immigrant populations.