About NCTR

NCTR is the only organization in the nation dedicated to developing, supporting, and accelerating the impact of teacher residency programs.

Our core commitment is to build and develop teacher residencies as a lever to address the enduring and systemic inequities in school systems facing children of color and children living in poverty.

Shannon Gray is a Resident at the Memphis Teacher Residency. This photo was taken at Cornerstone Prep.

Equity Commitment

NCTR believes that teacher residencies are the best way to recruit, prepare, and retain diverse, culturally responsive teachers to teach students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. NCTR is deeply committed to not just preparing residents to teach students of color, but preparing residents of color to teach students of color. In fact, 62 percent of teacher residents in NCTR partner residencies identify as people of color.

NCTR acknowledges the role of America’s educational system in systemic oppression and takes collective responsibility to challenge and correct these systems and structures. At NCTR, we advocate for a just educational system and believe that being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization will better enable us to achieve our mission and improve outcomes for all the students, teachers, and programs we serve.

NCTR invites individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to identify challenges and enact solutions to teacher preparation challenges. We honor and celebrate each individual’s strengths and aspire to model diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are committed to providing resources and modeling best practices for our partner organizations, who seek to improve teacher pipelines and ensure all students have access to quality teachers.

By the Numbers

Teacher residencies have grown in scale and influence in recent years, and the residency movement has never been stronger.

10
new residencies through our New Site Development program
21
states
536
training sites
33
residencies in our Network supported
1400 +
residents prepared by NCTR partner teacher residencies
1000 +
teacher candidates graduate from NCTR partner residencies in 2019-2020
4300
cumulative graduates who are primarily teachers of record in Title I schools that serve students from historically marginalized communities

Selecting, Recruiting, and Retaining Teachers of Color 

Teacher residencies focus on schools serving our highest need and most diverse student bodies that historically have struggled to attract and retain well-prepared teachers of color to eliminate racial disparities in educational outcomes. Teacher residencies are designed to address racial disparities in educational outcomes through the preparation of effective, diverse teachers. They are designed to reduce the systemic barriers that discourage people of color from entering and remaining in teaching. 

  • 62% of teacher residents in NCTR’s Network identify as people of color (NCTR Annual Impact Report 2019-2020) whereas only 22% of all new teachers nationally are persons of color (U.S. Department of Education, 2016)
  • 29% of all residents identify as Latinx (NCTR Annual Impact Report 2019-2020) versus 9% of the entire teaching field and 37% of residents are Black (NCTR Annual Impact Report 2019-2020) compared to only 7% nationally (U.S. Department of Education, 2016) 
  • NCTR partner residencies expressly recruit mentor teachers of color as 42% of NCTR partner mentors identify as people of color (NCTR Annual Impact Report 2019-2020) 
Maya Alston is a Resident at the Memphis Teacher Residency. This photo was taken at Grizzlies Prep.

NCTR is Generously Supported By