Marlene Tello Fabian grew up speaking Spanish at home and, at first, she struggled with English classes in Dallas Independent School District.
But she remembers the elementary school teacher who provided her with extra support.
“Slowly, I was able to build my confidence in speaking English,” the University of North Texas at Dallas education major said.
Now, Tello aims to be that kind of teacher for other Dallas students. She will spend much of her last year in college working at Cochran Elementary — just 10 minutes away from her old school.
At Cochran, she’ll be a teacher resident, earning up to $30,000 to work alongside a mentor teacher in the classroom. This research-backed model gives aspiring educators real-world experience before they take on a group of their own students.
It’s the first year UNT Dallas is sending paid teacher residents to DISD, officials said. Five seniors will work alongside mentor teachers in kindergarten through second grade. They will be in bilingual or ESL classes, which are often difficult spots for districts to fill because of shortages in such teacher certification areas.
School of Education Dean Christine Remley called the model a game changer.
The residents “get more teaching time; they get more time with the students; and they get more accustomed to the role of a teacher,” she said. “It increases persistence. It increases retention. And more importantly, it increases student learning.”
The UNT Dallas students were required to pass state mandated certification exams ahead of joining the program. They’re guaranteed DISD employment at the end of the residency.
“The benefit is that they get familiar with the expectations of our district and also the culture of our district,” said Sandra Baptista, DISD’s student teacher and special initiatives coordinator. “It is our expectation that they embrace it. And when they transition to a teacher of record, they feel that they have already been part of the district all along.”
Expanded teacher residency programs are frequently cited by education advocates as a potential solution to staffing shortages. When the Texas Teacher Vacancy Task Force unveiled its list of recommendations last year, it urged the state to establish — and fund — a teacher residency pathway.
The task force’s report described it as a paid, yearlong clinical training period in a public school classroom, similar to the medical field’s model.
“With strong teacher preparation via a teacher residency model, a system could be built in which there were no more first-year teachers,” the report read.
First-year teachers serve at least half a million Texas students, according to the report.
New teachers tend to achieve less academic growth with their classes, a Texas Education Agency analysis found. Novice teachers are more likely to be paired with students from poor families and children of color.
Meanwhile, a growing number of new teachers lack state certification entirely. So officials have no way to know whether they received rigorous training before stepping into a classroom.
Multiple bills that took aim at teacher recruitment and retention died during the most recent legislative sessions. Among them was a proposal to help cover the cost of resident salaries. For each resident, a district could have received between $22,000 and $42,000.
While that effort failed, Texas officials have taken other steps to bolster the value of residencies.
The State Board of Education signed off in April on creating an Enhanced Standard Certificate for teacher candidates who complete a residency route.
“This is a way for applicants to differentiate themselves,” State Board of Education member Will Hickman, R-Houston, said at the time. “For the [school districts] trying to hire teachers, these residents will stand out.”
College students have long done clinical teaching for free, but the ability to pay young adults as residents is beneficial, Remley said. Dallas ISD will also provide the UNT Dallas seniors with benefits and retirement contributions.
“It shows the student teacher that their work is valued and it’s important,” Remley said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
