Teaching the teachers: New university program targets educator shortfall

FILE PHOTO The University of Southern Maine, whose Portland campus is shown here, is part of the University of Maine System.

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By Staff

A new program led by the University of Southern Maine seeks to alleviate Maine’s teacher shortage by filling positions with student-teachers and supporting not-yet-certified teachers.

The Maine Teacher Residency Program, which is available to college students across the state, will pay students while they take classes towards their degrees and certifications.

During the program, students are hired on as educational technicians, long-term substitute teachers, or classroom teachers. Students get on-the-job training and experience, have the support of a mentor, and get paid by the school system. They also receive a $3,500 scholarship to go toward tuition.

The program is open to students throughout the University of Maine System, students from other Maine colleges, and new teachers who are emergency or conditionally certified.

“Resident interns who complete the year-long internship are well prepared for a successful year as a first year teacher,” Mandy Cyr, a member of the program’s advisory board, said in a news release.

Cyr is also the director of instruction and innovation for the Biddeford school system, which piloted the program and now has eight residents at its elementary schools.

“The residency program has allowed me to worry less about finances and focus more on becoming the educator I want to be for my students,” said Alexis Howe, a senior at USM who is teaching first grade at Biddeford Primary School.

Nearly 40 college students will participate in the program this fall, with 70 more slots open next year. School systems statewide, including Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland, Sanford, Scarborough and Westbrook, along with more than a dozen Regional School Units and Regional School Districts, have hired teachers this fall through the program.

Another goal is to inspire students to remain in the profession.

“Well-prepared teachers remain in the classroom,” said Flynn Ross, associate professor in USM’s extended teacher education program and residency program administrator.

The Residency Program is federally funded for two years and is one of several across the University of Maine System aimed at addressing teacher and school administrator shortages. Other examples include fully-online graduate programs; CONTAACT-ME, a five-year UMaine initiative that will help 40 to 45 graduate students earn master’s degrees in special education with a focus on early childhood intervention; and the Maine SEEDS program, a partnership between the University of Maine System and the Maine Department of Education that provides mentorship and resources to early career and conditionally certified special educators working in Maine schools.