Outcomes for Early Career Teachers Prepared Through a Pilot Residency Program in Louisiana

This report examines early career pathways and outcomes for teachers who participated in the pilot of Louisiana’s Believe and Prepare program, which includes a full-year teacher residency. REL Southwest conducted the study in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education and the Southwest Teacher Preparation and Professional Development Research Partnership.

The study used a combination of state administrative data and publicly available data to analyze certification, employment, and retention outcomes among teachers who participated in the Believe and Prepare pilot residency between 2014/15 and 2016/17.

Key findings include:

• A large majority (76 percent) of Believe and Prepare pilot participants were enrolled in a university-based teacher preparation program.
• About 30 percent of early career Believe and Prepare pilot participants who attained a Level 1 professional certificate in 2015/16–2017/18 were certified in a high-need subject (middle grades math or science, secondary math or science, or special education).
• About 28 percent of early career Believe and Prepare pilot participants who entered teaching in Louisiana public schools in 2015/16–2018/19 taught in a high-need subject in their first year.
• Early career Believe and Prepare pilot participants’ attainment of a Level 1 professional certificate was associated with characteristics of residency schools.
• Of early career Believe and Prepare teachers who entered teaching in 2015/16–2017/18, 89 percent were retained in the state for a second year, 76 percent were retained in the same district, and 71 percent were retained in the same school.

Read and download the report: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?projectID=4621

Related resources:

• Video: Mentoring New Teachers in Louisiana (June 1, 2021)