ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 situates the University at Buffalo Teacher Residency (UBTR) Program within the local Buffalo, NY, landscape; describes the ways in which collaborative professionalism informs our approach to partnership; and outlines the salient features of the program. We begin by providing historical context and current data on Buffalo Public Schools and describing the program’s conception as well as the process of seeking funding. We share our approach to building a core planning team and programmatic infrastructure, outlining the roles essential to program launch and discussing the development of the program’s mission, vision, and core values. Shifting to more programmatic decision points, we outline our approach to and strategies used for resident recruitment, identifying partner schools, and selecting mentor teachers.
After outlining the basic mission, vision, purpose, and organizational structure of UBTR, we shift to recruitment and selection of teacher residents (TRs). A key goal of UBTR is the diversification of the teaching profession. Therefore, we outline the demographic information of our TRs and provide qualitative insight into the reasons residents offered for entering the program.
