Virginia Commonwealth University is beginning a new type of teacher preparation program to help form and equip talented and intelligent education students for the demands of urban schools.  According to The Bridge, VCU's education magazine, the program will be shaped more like that of medical students than traditional education students.  The program includes coursework, a yearlong residency of direct supervision by an effective educator, and two years of additional mentoring.  It's like student teaching on steroids.

Will it work?  Will the additional time under the wings of more accomplished educators make the profound and lasting impact VCU and Richmond City Schools are hoping for?  Of course, the jury is still out and will be for quite some time since one of the issues they will be tracking is teacher turnover-something not likely to happen during the first three years of a program designed like this one.  For some the difficulty comes when they are left totally (or almost totally) to their own devices and are required to rely on what they have learned or how creative they can get in the moment.  For others, the difficulty will be trying not to suffocate under the direction of their assigned mentor and resident teacher. 

It would be a great solution to teacher prep quality issues--just tack on an additional 6 months of hands-on training and some more supervision and voila, problem solved.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's going to do the trick.  Urban schools present a whole host of issues that are virtually non-existant in sub-urban schools and the individual must have the desire and drive to work within those circumstances or no amount of training will make them want to stay.  At any rate, this new program will result in one thing-- a long time in the teacher making process.  Wonder if those who go through it should expect the kind of pay the medical professionals get after they complete their residencies?