Should We Train Teachers Like We Train Doctors?

When then-Secretary of Education John King spoke at Hopkins last fall, he brought up the intriguing idea of remodeling America’s teacher training programs to look more like medical residencies. He cited the fact that after World War II, a revolution happened in medical education wherein society realized we needed to ensure that our doctors were fully qualified to serve the public. Training residencies, in which doctors work under the supervision of qualified superiors for several years before entering medical practice, were established and public funding began to pour into medical education. Currently, we spend roughly $11.5 billion per year, or $500,000 per new doctor. Of course, teacher residencies would not need to be as lengthy and therefore would not cost nearly as much. But would a similar investment in teacher training be worth it?

The data seems to suggest that it would. With baby-boomer retirements, high turnover, and underenrollment in teacher preparation programs, we are facing an unprecedented teacher shortage. In the hopes of mitigating this crisis, some states have begun to relax policies in order to make it easier for teachers to enter the profession. But underprepared teachers are quick to leave the field, and we spend $2.2 billion annually to replace teachers who drop out.

In states that have begun implementing yearlong co-teaching residencies, however, the picture is more promising. Upwards of 90% of teachers who have gone through residency programs stay in the profession, compared to only 47% of others. 74% of principals say that residency graduates are more or much more effective than the typical teacher. Slowly but surely, the trend seems to be growing: Minnesota, Oklahoma and Kentucky have implemented statewide residency programs, while a number of cities such as Boston, DC, and Denver are piloting smaller efforts. Because of the novelty of these programs, student achievement data is limited, but thus far seems to suggest that students taught by these highly trained teachers are outperforming their peers.

Of course, such an overhaul of our teacher training system would require a great financial investment. But when viewed next to the millions that would be saved from expenditures on teacher replacement efforts, the expense has the potential to be greatly worthwhile. It is possible that here in Maryland, we’ll see the benefits of a teacher residency program very soon. Last year, the Teacher Induction, Retention and Advancement Workgroup began working on a recommendation for a yearlong teacher residency program in Maryland, and it may be included in the state funding formula for the upcoming fiscal cycle. Final recommendations will be made at the end of this year.

References: Polakow-Suranksy, S., Thomases, J., and Demoss, K. (2016, July 8). Train Teachers Like Doctors. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/opinion/train-teachers-like-doctors.html

Hershkowitz, S. (2016, Novemeber 29). Train Teachers Like Doctors? It Might Happen in Maryland. Retrieved from https://mseanewsfeed.com/train-teachers-like-doctors-it-might-happen-in-maryland-bbc66d585484