Teacher Residency or Traditional Pathway: What are my Options?

In the Teacher Residency Pathway, each Resident Teacher is placed with a single Cooperating Teacher for two semesters. Throughout this year, Resident Teachers are able to develop meaningful relationships with students, the broader school community, and hone their skills as educators. In the Traditional Pathway, Teacher Candidates are generally placed in different classrooms during each of the two semesters. Teacher Candidates collaborate with different Cooperating Teachers each semester and hone their pedagogical expertise in experience two school environments that require developing new relationships with groups of students. Moreover, there is a competitive application to be admitted to the Teacher Residency Pathway, which are all paid and require a greater time commitment. Every student who meets the criteria can participate in the Traditional Pathway in which certain districts offer paid opportunities. The chart above provides additional key information about each pathway.

Currently, there are Teacher Residency Pathways in All-Level Special Education and Elementary Level Core Subjects with English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher certification areas. In addition, one of our pilot Residencies is offered for those pursuing a secondary-level certification in Math, Science, English, or History.

Every teacher certification program offered by Texas State offers the Traditional Pathway.

All Resident Teachers will be paid by their respective school districts. With the exception of our San Marcos CISD Pilot Residencies, Resident Teachers are currently paid $20,000 across the year of their residency by the school district. In addition, our Residency Pathway partners provide additional perks like travel stipends or a year of credit in the Teacher Retirement System. In the Traditional Pathway, Teacher Candidates must apply for paid clinical teaching positions with the specific districts that offer such opportunities. The Office of Educator Preparation will share paid Traditional Pathway Opportunities. Teacher Candidates who accept paid positions earn between $2,000-$10,000 for the clinical teaching semester.

In the Teacher Residency Pathway, Texas State has paid partnerships with Austin ISD, Hutto ISD, KI Charter Academy, Lockhart ISD, Manor ISD, Prairie Lea ISD, and San Marcos CISD. We are working to bring on more partners in this pathway. TXST COE partners with numerous districts across the entire state of Texas for the Traditional Pathway. In the Traditional Pathway, Teacher Candidates are placed in local districts for the first semester of their field-based experience. During the second semester, in which clinical teaching takes place, Teacher Candidates can request placement with our more than 40 Central Texas partners. In addition, students pursuing All-Level Special Education and Elementary Level Core Subjects with English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher certification have the opportunity to select placements with our Dallas Fort Worth, Houston, South Texas, and West Texas District Partners.

Our Teacher Residency Pathway Residency programs entail three days of clinical experiences in a classroom during the first semester and five days during the second semester. Our San Marcos CISD Pilot Residencies only require students to participate in two days of clinical experience during the fall semester. In addition, students receive substitute pay ($105) for every day that they are co-teaching in the classroom. As a result, this residency site requires less time during the fall semester and SMCISD Resident Teachers do not receive the same level of stipend as other sites. During the 2024-2025 school year, our San Marcos CISD residency sites will be transitioning to a model in which residents will have three days of clinical experience during the first semester.

During the 24-25 academic year, we are excited about upcoming changes to TXST COE’s Residency Pathway. We will transition from a 14-week to 28-week clinical teaching that will provide teacher candidates the opportunity to accrue clinical teaching hours and coursework across the academic year. This change will allow greater flexibility to develop more funded residencies.