An Exploratory Study of Bilingual Teacher Residencies in California.

This research brief presents a study that explores the underexamined area of bilingual teacher residencies (BTRs) in California. The authors build upon research on teacher residencies to better understand the perspectives of program leaders- those who implement BTRs in Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). The study describes the program leaders’ insights into the implementation of BTRs at various stages of development and implementation based on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s (CTC) funding phases from 2018 to 2023. Four findings are highlighted: 1) Forging New Relationships to Build on Community Cultural and Linguistic Wealth, 2) Designing Bilingual Teacher Residency District-University Partnerships and Programs, 3) The Burden of Support: Augmented Financial Barriers for Bilingual Teacher Residents and, 4) Bilingual Teacher Pedagogies: Critical Consciousness and Culturally Responsive Teaching. Based upon the findings, the research brief proposes three key recommendations for policy and practice to address the ongoing and projected California’s bilingual teacher shortages at the state and local levels: 1) Create Coherent and Articulated Cross-State Agency Efforts, 2) Differentiate Bilingual Networks of Support, and 3) Strengthen Bilingual Teacher Residency Communities of Practice.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_journalarticles/1013/thumbnail.jp