Boosting Teacher Readiness and Retention: SAU’s Rider Residency

The big picture: With support from Forward’s EPP Design Collaborative, Southern Arkansas University (SAU) launched a paid residency program, transforming its teacher candidate experience to be more practice-based. The Rider Residency, which focuses on preparing teachers with districts, not for districts, is a model SAU hopes other educator preparation programs (EPPs) will replicate.

Zoom in: LEARNS requires all teacher candidates to complete a one-year supervised residency alongside an experienced mentor educator and credentialed clinical supervisor by 2027.

Context: Traditionally, most EPPs have required only one semester of student teaching, primarily consisting of observing mentor teachers. Research shows that giving prospective educators more direct classroom experience, including opportunities to lead instruction, enhances student outcomes and retention in the field.

Why it matters: Without proper training, many new teachers lack the practical skills and confidence to lead classrooms on day one, leading to higher turnover and poorer student outcomes.

The impact: Today, SAU places more than 130 residents annually across seven school districts in south Arkansas. Residents receive $100 per day, and their mentors get $3,000 per year. The program is sustainable, with partner school districts investing in the training of in-house residents as a future hiring pipeline.

By the numbers: In the 2024-2025 school year, 77% of candidates stayed to teach in the schools where they completed their residencies—a massive jump from the previous retention rate of 20%.

What’s next: With the fundamentals in place—district partnerships, revamped curricula, mentor teacher training, matching process, and more—SAU is continuously improving its model. Through practices like regular feedback loops and quarterly governance meetings, it prioritizes day-one teacher readiness and long-term retention.