Nearly 75 local teachers participated in their Resident Educator training at the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center (ESC). The Year One Resident Educator Program was offered on Nov. 9, and Year Two was offered on Nov. 14.

New teachers starting their first jobs are given a Resident Educator Teaching License by the state of Ohio, and must complete four years of Resident Educator Training to receive their Professional Teaching License. Year One teachers meet four times a year for training; Year Two meets three times a year, Year Three meets once, and Year Four meets individually with teachers. During those four years, Resident Educator Teachers work closely with a mentor to guide and evaluate them. 

Professional development workshops are conducted around topics of concern to all new teachers, such as classroom management, effective use of assessments, and standards-based education. In 2017-18, more than 160 teachers are being provided with support and mentoring during the beginning stages of their careers.

“Although participation is required, the Ohio Department of Education allows us to determine our own program structure as long as we include certain components,” Tammy Hambrick, Resident Educator program director, said. “At this point we’re trying to make sure new teachers are able to take what they’ve learned and actually use this knowledge effectively in the classroom. We want to grow high-quality teachers who, very early in their careers, are able to help students achieve as much success as possible.”

The program has proven very successful for local teachers. Two Scioto County teachers -- Matt Blaine and Madison Rapp -- earned high marks on their 2016-17 Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) this year. Blaine teaches 5th and 6th Grade Social Studies at Green High School, and Rapp teaches 1st grade at Washington-Nile. In total, teachers from within the ESC consortium showed an 89 percent passage rate, passing 97 percent of all tasks submitted.

“After completing the Resident Educator Program for 3 years, I was anxious to receive my RESA scores,” Rapp said. “I felt proud that all of the hard work I put into the past three years had paid off, and relieved to be finished with the Resident Educator program.”

Various classroom management resources, including videos and web links, are available on the Resident Educator webpage, in the curriculum department of the South Central Ohio ESC website at www.scoesc.org.

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