Impact Evaluation for the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants – Teacher Residency Program

The US Department of Education anticipates the release of the subject solicitation on or about October 7, 2009. The Department is seeking offerors to conduct an impact evaluation of the Teacher Residency Program. The PURPOSE of the evaluation is to study the effectiveness of the teachers who participate in the Teacher Residency Program. The evaluation shall provide both impact and implementation information to address the following research questions: 1) What is the impact on student achievement of teachers who choose to participate in the Teacher Residency Program (i.e., How does their performance in the classroom compare to other novice and experienced teachers in the targeted schools); 2) What is the retention rate of the Residency program teachers in the targeted school compared to their novice colleagues who didn’t go through the residency program; 3) What are the characteristics of the teacher preparation program (e.g., length of overall program, nature of required coursework and apprenticeship activities, characteristics of their assigned mentor teacher, criteria for selecting program participants, etc.); 4) What are the characteristics of the teacher applicants and participants in the teacher residency program? The Teacher Residency Program is a program to prepare teachers for success in high-need schools. The purposes of the Teacher Residency program grants are to: 1) improve student achievement; 2) improve the quality of new prospective teachers by improving the preparation of prospective teachers and enhancing professional development activities for teachers; 3) hold teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher education accountable for preparing highly qualified teachers; and recruit highly qualified individuals, including minorities and individuals from other occupations, in the teaching force. The Department anticipates the period of performance for the contract will be 60 months