MTR Residency
Become a Mentor
teacher Mentors
Make an impact through mentorship.
As part of our residency model, MTR selects a mentor to pair with each resident, who then serves and teaches in the mentor's classroom for a full school year. Becoming a mentor teacher and opening your doors and your practice to MTR residents is a wonderful investment in the future of Memphis.
Mentoring with MTR is an opportunity open to provide teacher leadership through exemplary instructional practices and mentorship that supports the development and learning of an MTR resident teacher. While working with a MTR resident, mentors have the opportunity to grow and develop their own leadership practice.
What Mentors Do
An MTR mentor teacher provides support to an MTR resident assigned to their classroom by:
Creating a warm, supportive learning environment for the resident where they are treated and introduced as a “co-teacher”.
Supporting the resident to gradually assume teaching responsibilities over the school year through the MTR gradual release.
Providing supportive, specific, and actionable feedback based on MTR maturities though lesson planning feedback, formal observations, weekly meetings, quarterly mentor-resident-coach meetings, and three resident evaluations.
Mentor Benefits
MTR mentor teachers receive:
$2,000 stipend ($200 for summer PD, then $900 per semester)
Ongoing, high-quality professional development and instructional support throughout the year
Invitations to all MTR PD throughout the year
PLZ hours for all MTR PD
Mentor Qualifications
Applicants must have the following qualifications to apply for mentorship:
3+ years of teaching experience in under-resourced neighborhoods
3+ TVAAS Score
3+ TEM/TEAM Teacher Evaluation Score
Approval from the building leader to serve as a mentor
In addition to the qualifications listed above, demonstration of the following will be used in the selection of mentors:
Openness and willingness to have someone in their classroom
Ability to create, lead, and model a positive classroom environment
Deep content knowledge that can be modeled through action and thinking
Authentic ability to build and sustain professional adult relationships
Strong and organized communication skills while also showing the ability to maintain confidentiality
Desire to invest time to develop mentoring skills and participate in the programming for the duration of the year
Receptiveness to critical feedback to ultimately improve mentor and instructional skills
Application Process
Mentor applications for the Class of 2026 (2025-2026 school year) will open next winter.
The application process consists of a lesson plan submission, teaching observation, and open responses to mentoring scenarios.
If you want to express your interest in MTR mentoring now and receive communication when the mentor application opens, fill out our inquiry form.
Mentoring Results
0.65-0.83
improvement in student growth for mentor’s classroom when they have a resident
(2019 Research Study on Ancillary Benefits of Residency Program)
97%
of mentors agree or strongly agree that "Having a resident has promoted my professional growth."
(2023 Americorps Resident Effectiveness Survey)
Frequently Asked Questions
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MTR provides a highly structured gradual release of responsibility that outlines the amount of planning and teaching for the resident. This begins with leading individual learning experiences and progresses to residents lead teaching all components several times throughout the school year.
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Yes and no. MTR residents are still learning how to teach. They are enrolled in graduate-level coursework simultaneously to their internship experience, affording them the opportunity to apply theory directly to practice. Furthermore, MTR residents are viewed as “co-teachers” in the classroom and receive weekly support from an instructional coach who is employed by MTR.
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Residents will be at their internship site Monday-Thursday from the beginning of the school year until the first week of May. They will miss a limited number of additional days for coursework and community building.
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Preference is given to applicants who are currently teaching in MTR partner neighborhoods. However, this is not a requirement and we would love to hear from you if you are interested.
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Unfortunately, we do not place residents in co-teaching classrooms.
