Teacher Residency Pathway

• Overview
• Steps to Apply
  • Interest Forms
• Apply to a Program
• Residency Advising

Overview

Ideal for local candidates who want to learn to teach and start their career in a district nearby, our Teacher Residency Pathway is an accelerated, a year-long student teaching placement at a single school site and enables residents to:

• Learn to teach and launch your career in the SJSU service area
• Receive a stipend up to $35,000
• Finish the credential program in 13 months (Summer start)
• Develop yearlong relationships with your students
• Work with the same mentor teacher for the year and become immersed in the school, district and community culture
• Priority job interviews and hiring in your placement district or affiliated districts, district support for four years as your career develops

2025-2026 Cohort Information  

• Have a bachelor's and need to apply? 

  • Apply to either the multiple or single subject credential program via CalState Apply.

    Note: you must be accepted into the credential program prior to applying to the residency pathway.
• Questions about applying? 

  • Email Kristy Cross, Teacher Residency Program Coordinator or luriecollege-teacherresidency@sjsu.edu

Apply to San Jose State credential program and complete a supplemental application. Applicants will follow with an interview with potential host district(s) for placements. Program options include pathways that facilitate eligibility include full-time coursework beginning in spring (3-semester option) or summer (one-year option) and part-time coursework beginning in the fall (two-year option). During the fall and spring residency semesters, students continue to take a full-time load of credential and/or masters courses.

Each residency pathway includes a credential focus and has tailored professional development support for both teacher residents and their mentors. See below for program options and participating districts. Click each for a full description and advising contacts:

• Multiple Subjects Credential  (Grades K-8, with or without Bilingual Authorization)

  • Finish in 13 months with Summer Start Registration for students not already in the program. Apply on or before April 1st.

    Teacher candidates enrolled in the Multiple Subject Credential Program (MS), with or without participating in the Critical (Spanish) Bilingual Authorization Program (CBAP), are eligible to become teacher residents if they are scheduled to student teach during consecutive fall and spring semesters. Therefore, full-time candidates who are admitted to the MS/CBAP in the spring or summer may apply to become MS/CBAP teacher residents. Accelerated pathway option (Summer-Fall-Spring).

    MS/CBAP teacher residents will be placed in one of our partner school districts: Alum Rock, Campbell Union, or Milpitas Unified. Together with their mentor teachers, residents participate in monthly professional development (PD) that centers an emancipatory approach to district instructional priorities, such as assets-based approaches to math and literacy instruction that integrate content learning and language development.

    As is the case with all SJSU teacher residents, MS/CBAP teacher residents are placed with a mentor teacher for the entire school year and follow the calendar of their host district–from district and school PD before the school year begins, to setting up the classroom with their mentor, and experiencing the first and last days of the school year. MS/CBAP teacher residents receive funding to cover their tuition costs, books, fees, and provide a stipend. In return, MS/CBAP teacher residents will commit to teaching within one of the partner districts for four years after graduation.

    Download the flyer here [pdf].

    Participating Districts: Milpitas Unified, Campbell Union, Alum Rock Union, and Redwood City Unified.

    For more information, email Kristy Cross, Residency Coordinator kristy.cross@sjsu.edu

• Education Specialist (Special Education Credential)  

  • Education Specialist (Special Education Credential) – Oak Grove School District, Campbell Union, Milpitas Unified and Sunnyvale Elementary School District.

    Education Specialist Residents complete our Education Specialist Credential program on an accelerated pathway (Summer – Fall – Spring)
    Receive priority registration in courses with other residents
    Education Specialist Residents complete a year-long field placement (student teaching) in a residency school with a mentor teacher.
    Education Specialist Residents participate in activities at the school site following the residency school calendar with other SJSU Residents.
    Residency grants covers all tuition costs and includes a stipend of $5,000. You might also qualify to be paid as a para-professional.
    Receive priority job interviews for teaching positions in the residency district upon completion of the program.
    Contact: Lisa Simpson: lisa.simpson@sjsu.edu

    Download the Ed Specialist Supplemental Residency Application here

    Participating Districts: Oak Grove School District, Campbell Union, Milpitas Unified and Sunnyvale Elementary School District.

• Transitional Kindergarten with Multiple Subjects Credential (K-8)  

  • Are you interested in having TK/K as your student teaching focus? 
    Teaching Transitional Kindergarten (TK) provides an opportunity to use developmentally, linguistically, and culturally supportive practices with our community’s youngest public school students. If early primary grade teaching is your passion, and you are committed to teaching in the San Jose area, read on! 

    
    SJSU TK/K Residents will be paired with an experienced TK or K mentor teacher in one of five partner school districts: Mount Pleasant Elementary, Alum Rock Union, Evergreen, Berryessa Union School District, and Campbell Union School District. 

    
    As a TK/K  Resident, you will become immersed in the school community from the very first day of their school year. You will student-teach in the TK or K  classroom alongside your mentor teacher, and connect with other TK/K residents, all working to support the learning and holistic development of San Jose’s culturally and linguistically diverse students. Participants selected for the TK/K Residency program will receive grant funding (approximately $30,000) during the school year. After successfully completing the residency year, residents would be eligible for priority hiring in a partnering school district; the TK/K Residency program seeks participants who are committed to working in the host district after the residency year.  
    The SJSU TK/K Residency Program  is currently open for applications for its second cohort, for the 2024-2025 school year. Students who are early-childhood focused, accepted into the Multiple Subject Credential program, and eligible for AY24-25 student teaching are encouraged to apply.
    
    For more information, email kristy.cross@sjsu.edu.
    See flyer here.

    
    Participating Districts: Mount Pleasant Elementary School District (MPESD), Alum Rock School District (ARSD), Berryessa Union School District (BUSD), Evergreen Elementary School District (EESD), Campbell Union School District (CUSD).

• Ethnic Studies/Multiple Subjects (with or without Bilingual Authorization) or Single Subject Social Studies with Ethnic Studies focus

  • 
    Ethnic Studies helps students connect with their power by highlighting the strengths in their personal, community, and cultural backgrounds. Our SJSU Ethnic Studies Residency Pathway (ESRP) pairs teacher candidates with dynamic mentor teachers in East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD), Franklin-McKinley School District (FMSD), and Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District (MPESD) at Overfelt High School with a commitment to being transformative educators. Additionally, through ongoing, practice-based professional development rooted in residents’ curriculum and experiences in their student teaching placements, the ESRP supports residents and their mentors in cultivating the mindsets, knowledge, and skills to turn their classrooms into spaces of solidarity and liberation.

    The ESRP is open to SJSU Multiple Subject Credential candidates (for placement in FMSD or MPESD) and History/Social Science Single Subject Credential candidates (for placement in ESUHSD teaching either Ethnic Studies classes or US/World History classes through an Ethnic Studies lens). To be eligible to participate in the ESRP, candidates must complete student teaching in consecutive Fall and Spring semesters. The ESRP can be completed in conjunction with the Bilingüismo y Justicia Bilingual Authorization program. 

    For more information, email Prof. Luis Poza at luis.poza@sjsu.edu

    

    Participating Districts: Eastside Union High School District, Franklin McKinley District, and Mount Pleasant Elementary District.

Steps to Apply

Currently accepting applications for the Fall 2025 cohort. Applicants that are not current students in the MS or SS credential program must be accepted into the credential program to begin their coursework in Summer 2025 in order to qualify for a Fall 2025 start in the Teacher Residency Program.

• If you want to learn more about becoming a Teacher Resident, contact Kristy Cross at kristy.cross@sjsu.edu
  
  • Office Phone: 408-924-2300
• Complete our Teacher Residency Supplementary Application Google Form for your program of interest (if applications are open).
  • MS/CBAP Residency
  • Ethnic Studies Residency
  • TK Teacher Residency
  • Education Specialist

Apply to a Program 

• Cal State Apply | CSU
• Important: You must apply and be accepted to a credential program prior to applying to this pathway.
  • Multiple Subject / Elementary Education Credential program (TK, K-8 with or with bilingual authorization) 
  • Single Subject / Secondary Education Credential program (Social Studies with focus on Ethnic Studies) 
  • Credential Programs | Special Education  (Early Childhood, Mild to Moderate, or Moderate to Severe)

Residency Advising

Join us for virtual advising hours: 

• • Contact Kristy Cross, kristy.cross@sjsu.edu