(1) Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, the department shall contract with up to three institutions of higher education and up to three alternative teacher programs, each of which operates a proven and successful teacher residency program in Colorado, to operate the pilot teacher residency programs for the teacher residency expansion program. In selecting the institutions of higher education and the alternative teacher programs, the department shall ensure that the teacher residency programs that they operate have demonstrated success in training and retaining effective teachers and responsiveness to statewide needs in geographically diverse communities and are operating in partnership with a school district, charter school, or board of cooperative services that operates a public school. The selected institutions of higher education and alternative teacher programs shall expand their teacher residency programs on a pilot basis with local education providers, alternative teacher programs, and institutions of higher education, which expansion must, at a minimum, include documentation of the tuition model, course scope, mentoring supports, models for paraprofessional development, and multiple staffing models. The pilot programs shall also share these components with the department, which shall share them with other local education providers, alternative teacher programs, and institutions of higher education that are not participating in the pilot programs.

(2) (a) Subject to available appropriations, based on the terms of the contracts to provide pilot programs pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the department shall distribute to the contracting institutions of higher education and alternative teacher programs money to offset a portion of the direct costs incurred in implementing the pilot programs.

(b) Each institution of higher education and alternative teacher program that enters into a contract with the department to provide pilot programs pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall, pursuant to the terms of the contract, agree to match one hundred percent of the amount distributed to the institution and alternative teacher program by the department to offset a portion of the direct costs incurred in implementing the pilot programs. An institution of higher education or alternative teacher program that applies to operate a pilot program must provide to the department written documentation demonstrating that, by a specified date, the institution or alternative teacher program will have an amount sufficient in total to meet the requirements of the contract. The department shall not enter into a contract with an institution of higher education or alternative teacher program that fails to provide the required documentation.

(3) After the pilot programs described in this section have operated for one school year, and annually thereafter, the department shall review the information collected from the pilot programs to determine whether the pilot programs are effective in increasing retention of the teachers employed by the participating local education providers and raising the cultural competence of the teacher residents who participate in the pilot programs. In measuring the effectiveness of the pilot programs, the department shall consider:

(a) The developmental progress, including levels of cultural competence, of the teacher residents participating in the pilot program before, during, and after participation in the pilot program;

(b) The levels of satisfaction with the pilot program expressed by the teacher residents, local education providers, alternative teacher programs, and institutions of higher education; and

(c) A comparison of the participating local education provider's teacher retention rate before, during, and after participating in the pilot program.