Saint Louis Teacher Residency

Training in Cohorts: Residents train as part of a cohort — a peer group that provides ongoing support and collaborative learning throughout the apprenticeship year and beyond. At the beginning of the school year, groups of residents will be placed in high-need public schools for their apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship: STLTR selects a cohort of experienced mentor-teachers to be paired with residents for the duration of the school-year. Mentors provide valuable insight into effective teaching, and help residents develop the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that come from years of experience in high-need classrooms.

Coursework: In addition to your work in the classroom, you will engage in master’s-level education coursework designed to inform and enrich the apprenticeship experience. This deep blend of theory and practice makes the residency model a unique route into teaching, where you get to draw meaningful connections between your daily classroom work and the latest in education theory and research.

STLTR continues to provide support, coaching, and mentorship to residents throughout their first-year lead teaching. As a resident, you will continue to take coursework with STLTR’s university partner, Washington University in St. Louis, which leads to Master of Arts in Teaching at the end of year two. You will also have access to ongoing professional development through STLTR and take part in content-specific professional learning communities.

When you graduate from STLTR, you will commit to work in a district or partner school for at least three years after the completion of your apprenticeship. STLTR anticipates that their graduates will go on to become mentor teachers and leaders in their school communities.

As a resident, you will spend your first year working with an experienced mentor teacher gaining the skills and knowledge you need to be an effective teacher. Residents co-teach with their mentor teacher Monday through Thursday each week, and attend coursework with STLTR each Friday. In coursework, you will have the opportunity to learn new skills and strategies that you will implement and practice in your classroom the following week.

STLTR believes that teachers must have a certain degree of cultural and interpersonal awareness and competence. STLTR partners with the The Education Equity Center of St. Louis to facilitate the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) coursework embedded within their certification program. Their program has several built-in components to help you become a teacher that is sensitive to diversity, equity and inclusion needs of your students.

Coaching, practice and feedback are at the center of the residency model. In year one, as a resident, you will receive bi-weekly coaching from their STLTR instructional coach, in addition to ongoing feedback from your mentor-teacher. In year two, as you transition into lead-teaching roles, you will continue to receive ongoing support and development from their STLTR coach.

STLTR believes that all great educators consistently work to improve their practice. For residents, this development occurs through the cycles of coaching and feedback that you will receive from mentor-teachers and coaches. As an organization, STLTR is always adapting based on feedback from partners and residents. Each quarter, we solicit feedback from residents, mentors, and principals in order to adjust their approach and best meet the needs of their current cohort. As a part of the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR), STLTR's team also has the opportunity to collaborate with residency programs across the country, sharing best practices and learning from other leaders in this work.