The Montana Teacher Residency Program (MTRP) is a year-long student teaching opportunity for higher-education students in Montana seeking initial teacher licensure. Since launching in 2022, this Program helps prepare aspiring teachers to best serve their students through an opportunity to connect theory to practice and gain the skills of highly effective practitioners who will be ready on day one to successfully lead their own classrooms. In addition to giving Residents a more in-depth experience, the MTRP was designed with the goal of incentivizing teaching in a wider range of communities across the state and increasing long-term teacher retention by working with rural and understaffed districts.
Residents begin with an in-person orientation in August, then enter a yearlong, mentored student teaching under the guidance of a Teacher Leader. During the year, Residents engage in learning labs sponsored by the Office of Public Instruction while simultaneously completing their remaining coursework to earn an education degree from their educator preparation program. In exchange for committing to teach in a Montana public school district for three years, Residents receive a monthly stipend, tuition support, and district-provided housing assistance.
The Montana Teacher Residency Program is the first of its kind in the state, co-developed by representatives from the Montana University System, the Office of Public Instruction, school districts, the Montana School Boards Association, legislators, and residency model experts from Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.