The Mississippi Department of Education allocated more than $2.9 million to continue the Mississippi Teacher Residency Program (MTR) last month for institutions across the state. For the first time, this list of institutions includes the University of Mississippi, which is set to receive $242,733.
The MTR program is designed for prospective elementary and special needs educators with a bachelor’s degree in a field other than education to obtain licenses or supplementary endorsements by completing an approval program in “geographical critical shortage areas,” according to the state Department of Education’s website.
For Kristina Livingston, assistant professor of elementary education and coordinator of the new Master of Arts in Teaching program, the MTR program’s goal is to make sure these schools are staffed with quality educators.
“We know there is a teacher shortage, not just in Mississippi — this is a nationwide issue,” Livingston said. “We want to make sure that the teachers that are in front of our students are highly trained and highly qualified.”
The program is set to start at UM in spring 2026, with the expectation that students will obtain their five-year renewable teaching license and Master of Arts in Teaching in one year.
The online program, worth 33 credit hours, is designed for students to earn their teaching certification in a way that is hands-on and affordable.
“I think it’s amazing how many people have reached out to me saying, ‘Hey, I have a degree in XYZ, but my heart really wants to be an elementary teacher,’” Livingston said. “Doing this completely online provides students with the flexibility that they need.”
The program pays for the first 12 hours of courses as well as the fee to take the “foundations of reading” test, a prerequisite to obtain a teaching license. Also included is a stipend to help pay for materials.
“If they are able to pass the foundations of reading test, they then qualify to get a three-year alternate route nonrenewable license, which will put them in a fourth- through sixth-grade class, where they would do their practicum; they would be the full-time teacher in the room,” Livingston said.
While student teaching, program members will simultaneously be completing their master’s degree online. This streamlines the process of earning the five-year renewable teaching license and places students in jobs quickly and effectively.
To ensure sufficient professional development, the MTR program provides each student with a mentor in the school district in which they are working. This gives students a familiar face in the building and someone dedicated to developing them as a teacher.
“Research has shown that just having a solid mentor, someone that’s in the trenches with you in the day-to-day interactions with your students, can make a huge difference in retention and self-efficacy and how they feel about themselves as teachers,” Livingston said.
While the university is set to start this program in the spring, other universities in Mississippi have been running this program successfully for years, including the University of Southern Mississippi (USM).
“We started out with a cohort of eight students back in 2022, but since then each year we have been graduating approximately 20 students from the program,” Hailee Hawkins, the program coordinator at USM, said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian.
“We’ve actually gotten reports of several of them getting the first-year teacher award or becoming teacher of the month,” Hawkins said. “All these things are very exciting to hear on our side. … Not only (are they) getting through the program but they are actually excelling once they graduate.”
