Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University (SHSU), located in Huntsville, Texas (about 70 miles north of Houston) has a long and proud history of preparing future educators. Founded in 1879, it’s the third-oldest public university in Texas, and the first teacher preparation program in the state. With over 1500 undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in its teacher education programs, and more than 400 program completers per year (475 candidates completed the initial certification program in 2020), SHSU is the single largest higher education producer of new teachers in the region. Approximately 45% of SHSU students are first generation college students, and over 75% of students work while pursuing a degree.
In 2018, in partnership with US PREP, SHSU began redesigning their teacher preparation program, with the ultimate goal of shifting all of their candidates to a yearlong residency. Recognizing that this was an ambitious undertaking that would require significant time and effort to implement with quality, Edmonson and her team decided to phase in yearlong residency over three years, piloting the residency in the Fall of 2018 with a cohort of 18 bilingual and elementary candidates with two district partners: Klein ISD and New Caney ISD. In Fall 2021, SHSU moved to full-scale with the residency program for all elementary and middle level candidates. One hundred sixty-five yearlong residents began in the Fall and another 110 began in Spring 2022 across 12 partner districts. SHSU expanded the residency program with secondary candidates in Fall 2022.
