The Annual Report indicates that the teacher residency movement has grown in scale and influence with NCTR’s partners graduating over 1,000 residents last year. Representing a 75 percent increase since 2017. Preparing more teachers of color than ever before, 62 percent of residents in NCTR partner programs identify as persons of color, compared with 22 percent of all new teachers nationally. The report also highlights NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative (BEI) a $20 million effort (funded by the Ballmer Group) to recruit, prepare, and support 750 Black educators over the next five years. In the first year of the initiative, NCTR granted over two million dollars to eight residency programs to support 280 Black residents.
The report also highlights research from Glass Frog Solutions that found that hosting a resident in the classroom was positively associated with higher teacher effectiveness scores–a benefit unique to the NCTR model. Other external research found compelling evidence that the residency model has a positive impact on students, enhances teacher effectiveness for mentors, and recruits and prepares diverse and effective graduates.
The report points out that graduates of teacher residencies are highly likely to work in low-income schools, and more often than not, the schools they train in as residents. In fact, 87 percent of residents work in Title I schools, and 87 percent are hired to work in partner districts. They are also better prepared–a data point residencies are known for and one school superintendents and principals find compelling. Teachers trained in residencies are also filling jobs in traditionally hard-to-staff positions such as special education, science, math, and classes for English Language Learners (ELL). 25 percent of residents trained in NCTR partner programs are prepared to teach special education (compared to 12 percent nationally), 26 percent are prepared to teach ELL, and 21 percent are prepared to teach STEM (compared to 8 percent [math] and 6.8 percent [science]).