Each year, Brown's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program prepares a cohort of graduate students to teach in secondary school environments. However, the support does not end when the alumni graduate from Brown. Professor Katie Rieser, Director of Teacher Education, recently began a research project to create a teacher induction program that will help MATs as they transition to and remain in the teaching profession.

“The University has a responsibility to continue to work with teachers and contribute to teachers’ ability to have culturally responsive practices after they graduate,” Professor Rieser said. “It’s a really tricky, hard thing to try to learn to continue culturally responsive practices when you’re in a school environment that may not support those.”

Program development began in the spring when Professor Rieser met with stakeholders from schools, Brown University, and the Annenberg Institute. The stakeholders helped conceptualize the program and develop a research plan. The program will ensure that MAT alumni maintain culturally responsive teaching practices in their classrooms, especially in Rhode Island.

“Ultimately, we want to support the alumni and we want to prove that we’ve supported them,” Professor Rieser said. 

To support the program’s development, Professor Rieser worked with UTRA recipients and Education Studies concentrators Meg Henning ‘25 and Eliana Lopez ‘25.

“The goal for this project is to create a program for MAT graduates to participate in during their early years teaching that prepares them to be culturally relevant and confident in teaching in local schools,” Meg said. “This summer we have contributed by starting to write a literature review on the need for teacher induction and have also started writing a case study on the community engaged research practices Professor Rieser and others used to start to build this project.”

The project focuses heavily on critical relational solidarity and community-engaged research, ideas that stress the importance of involving the community in the induction program.

“As a Rhode Island native, I'm thrilled with the department’s recent redesign and commitment to the local community,” Eliana said. “There is a lot of effort that goes into nurturing an effective teacher and a large part of that is ongoing support for teachers and ongoing classroom training that will hone their disciplines and practice and elevate their confidence.”

Meg and Eliana both hope to enter teacher programs after graduating from Brown. Working on this research project has prepared them to advocate for their needs and interests as they transition into the classroom as new teachers.

“It has been absolutely wonderful working with Professor Rieser! She really has pushed us to grow, both in our learning and confidence, by allowing us to take the lead on many projects and bring our own ideas to the table during meetings,” Eliana said. “She has really opened my eyes to the world of education besides actual teaching in classrooms.”

“It’s been really fun for me to have both thought partners and accountability partners in them,” Professor Rieser said. “After having this experience with the UTRA this summer, it’s definitely a really helpful way to meet people who I want to build long-term research relationships with.”