Building a National Movement

The New Mexico legislature has invested $35,000 per teacher resident—along with funding for mentors, principals, and program coordinators—to support quality teacher preparation through a full year, paid residency alongside a mentor teacher. Rather than simply administering the funds, the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) saw residency funding as an opportunity to recruit a more diverse teacher workforce while better preparing teachers through quality clinical preparation.

In partnership with Prepared To Teach, NMPED established a statewide community of practice to explore how residencies could build P-20 partnerships, collect and share data, strengthen pre-service placements through co-teaching models, and create powerful stories to recruit residents and spread the word about the power of teaching to change lives. Check back here soon for a video compilation from programs across the state—an incredible glimpse of the impact of the work this year!

San Diego Unified School District built a shared framework for residencies with the University of San Diego, San Diego State University, and the University of California San Diego. The residency partnership is designed to increase the diversity of educators in the San Diego Unified School District by providing a co-teaching experience that builds professional practice through a preservice clinical model guided by a high quality mentor teacher and rooted in culturally sustaining pedagogy and equity consciousness; that limits the uncertainty that may be experienced due to financial barriers; and that guarantees a pathway to employment and ensures the educators continue to develop throughout their career.

Everyone in the residency partnership is committed to increasing affordability for candidates. For example, The University of San Diego has reduced the number of credit hours and the time to completion for the teacher residency program, making it possible for students to complete the program at a reduced cost in less time.

The University of Texas at Dallas’s Teacher Development Center at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies is one of the state’s most innovative teacher preparation providers.  Clinically rich residencies that ensure strong matches between mentors and pre-service teachers form the foundation of all their programs, and the school has committed to finding ways to provide funding for their teacher candidates by partnering deeply with school districts.

The School was one of the first in the country to design and be approved for a Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship, which makes the program eligible for new funding streams for candidates.  In addition, they have also created a regional consortium of preparation programs and districts working collaboratively to more systematically—and sustainably—address the need for supports for the many underprepared teachers that districts currently hire.

For years, Winthrop University in South Carolina has embraced both clinically rich teacher preparation and deep partnerships with districts. By securing federal grants, the College of Education has also been able to expand its reach, providing specialized programming to meet a wide range of district needs through strong pre-service preparation.  

For example, their NetSERVE program has brought teacher residencies to rural districts, building a strong cadre of new teachers committed to pursuing teaching careers in rural schools that often face high turnover. This video offers a look into the power of their approach.

The School of Education at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) has been working collaboratively with Alaska school districts and external organizations since 1970 to pursue the goal of preparing effective Indigenous teachers for Alaska’s schools. In addition to honoring Indigenous knowledge, bringing local cultural knowledge to the forefront of curriculum, UAF has always centered affordability so that aspiring teachers have the time and preparation they need to competently and confidently teach in Alaska's schools.

Recently, adding to this decades-long tradition, UAF has engaged in cross-university collaboration in the state to build a scholarship program to fund residents. The collective has just awarded $1.3M in scholarships to nearly 70 students.

The University of New Mexico (UNM) and Albuquerque Public Schools were the first Prepared To Teach partnership to embrace sustainable funding for teacher residencies. A grant through the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR) seeded a pilot that brought the district, the university, and the teacher’s union, Albuquerque Teachers Federation, into weekly discussions to design and strengthen their model, which the district funded as part of its investment in a strong teacher workforce.

Over time, research on UNM candidates’ financial burdens through Prepared To Teach and an NCTR evaluation of the Albuquerque residency helped pave the way for a statewide investment in residencies. The 20-person residency in Albuquerque is now a 80+ person residency in 13 districts and charter schools.