It’s no secret that the nation is facing a teacher shortage—according to data gathered by the Learning Policy Institute in 2024, “[Across the country] at a minimum, 406,964 positions were either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments.”

Richmond native and public school champion Kim McKnight is determined to reduce those numbers. “It is often on the back of goodwill that people become teachers,” says McKnight, director of VCU’s Center for Teacher Leadership and RTR Teacher Residency. “If you really believe they are teaching the future of our world, we need to invest in them.”

McKnight admits while she was a “teacher’s pet,” growing up, it wasn’t until college that she decided she wanted to devote herself to the profession. After completing the five-year teacher education program at the University of Virginia, McKnight returned to Chesterfield County Schools where she taught as an elementary school teacher.

She went on to complete her national board certification (one of only 4% of teachers to do so) and earn her doctoral degree in educational psychology from VCU. While working on her PHD, McKnight became involved with VCU’s RTR Teacher Residency Program, founded by her mentor Terry Dozier in 2011.

RTR is based on a medical residency model, where the person learning to be a teacher is the resident and works alongside a strong mentor—matched specifically to them based on a stringent vetting process—from the first day of school until the last while taking classes at VCU.  The program pays for their degree and in exchange, the resident agrees to teach at a hard to staff school for three years.

Thanks to McKnight, RTR has expanded from Richmond to 20 other school divisions in the state. “We get to prepare incredible teachers for the hardest to staff schools,” says McKnight. “We have such a diverse workforce because we’ve reduced or almost eliminated financial barriers.”

To date, RTR has graduated more than 370 residents, and has inspired just as many mentors. “Ninety-nine percent of our mentor teachers say that being part of RTR made them a more effective teacher,” says McKnight. “This isn’t just a way to recruit new folks, it’s also a way to retain your great ones.”