Director, Special Education Teacher Residency Program

Fairfield University is a co-educational, comprehensive Jesuit university with a 200-acre campus located along the scenic shoreline community of Fairfield, CT. The University is comprised of approximately 3,500 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students pursuing degrees within 5 schools:
The College of Arts and Sciences, The Charles

F. Dolan School of Business, The School of Engineering, The Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, and School of Education and Human Development. As an expression of our Jesuit, Catholic mission and identity, Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values.

Fairfield University’s School of Education and Human Development is developing a clinically rich, equity-centered Special Education Teacher Residency Program in partnership with local districts to recruit, train, mentor, and certify the next generation of special educators. The Director of the Special Education Teacher Preparation Residency Program will lead the creation and implementation of this innovative graduate level residency model, designed to prepare aspiring special education teachers through fieldwork, coursework, mentorship, and community partnerships.

The Director will oversee every aspect of the residency initiative from program design and district collaboration to candidate recruitment, supervision, and continuous improvement. Grounded in Fairfield University’s Jesuit principle of cura personalis, the program will prioritize the development of highly skilled, reflective, and compassionate special educators prepared to serve students with disabilities in high need school communities. This is a unique opportunity to build a first of its kind program at Fairfield University and to play a leading role in strengthening the pipeline of diverse, well prepared special education teachers for districts with critical staffing needs.

• Design the residency model and gradual-release framework; develop all guiding program documents, handbooks, rubrics, and milestone calendars.

• Partner with ESTP faculty and the department chair to align or redesign courses and shepherd curriculum through the university’s approval process.

• Manage the Year 1 program budget; maintain complete records and serve as primary liaison to the funder and grants office at Fairfield University.

• Collaborate across ESTP on marketing, communications, and institutional visibility.

• Create culturally responsive recruitment targeting preservice candidates, with specific outreach to paraprofessionals and long-term substitutes in partner districts.

• Coordinate admissions with Fairfield University Graduate Admissions in alignment with SEHD and CT SDE educator preparation requirements.

• Design professional learning for the residency cohort.

• Create tracking and reporting systems.

• Serve as Fairfield’s primary liaison to school districts; build sustained relationships with district leadership, principals, and mentor special education teachers.

• Design and deliver mentor teacher professional development; coordinate distribution of mentor stipends.

• Design and maintain a data system tracking all required indicators.

• Submit accurate, on schedule reports to the funder with narrative analysis of program impact.

• Master’s degree in special education, education or Educational Leadership,

• CT State Certification in education and minimum five (5) PK-12 experience

• Demonstrated experience coaching teachers or teacher candidates with measurable impact on instructional practice,

• Experience designing and facilitating professional development for adult learners,

• Experience managing multi-faceted teams including administrators, educational professionals, faculty, staff, and students,

• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion with a professional record of work in or alongside historically underserved communities,

• Stron…