Rural schools worldwide face ongoing challenges in recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers. Yearlong teacher residency models, which emphasize extended co teaching with skilled mentors, have emerged as a promising approach to strengthen clinical preparation and address these workforce shortages. However, the perspectives of rural campus leaders—central to residency implementation and long term success—remain insufficiently explored.
This mixed methods study examines how rural principals and campus administrators perceive the impact of yearlong residents on instructional quality, student learning, school climate, data use practices, and leadership engagement. Survey findings from a small sample, reflective of the limited number of rural campuses currently using residency models, show strong agreement that residents positively influence instruction, engagement, and academic outcomes. Leaders also reported high confidence in residents’ preparedness and professional growth. Still, the small sample size requires cautious interpretation and signals a need for broader research across diverse rural settings. Despite the overall positive perceptions, leaders noted several structural gaps, including limited involvement in program design, mentor selection, and placement decisions, as well as inconsistent use of residency related data for improvement efforts. Low internal consistency among leadership integration items suggests that leaders’ roles within residency systems remain conceptually underdeveloped. Forthcoming qualitative focus groups will further explore how leaders understand their roles in evidence based decision making, continuous improvement cycles, and advocacy. The study offers insights relevant to educational leadership and policy for countries seeking to strengthen rural teacher pipelines through collaborative, evidence driven preparation models.

Authors:
Britine Perkins, Prairie View A&M University, United States
Helen Berg, Sam Houston State University, United States
Beverly Sande, Prairie View A&M University, United States
Valeisha Ellis, Delaware State University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Britine L. Perkins, Ed.D, Assistant Professor/Co-Director of the Panther Teacher Residency Program, studies equity in teacher preparation and is currently leading research on rural campus leaders’ perceptions of year‑long teacher residencies.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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