National Symposium for Educator Preparation,
Policy, & Leadership

Join us April 9-11, 2025 in Chicago!

Coming Together in Support of Educator Preparation

The National Symposium for Educator Preparation, Policy, and Leadership 2025, led by the National Center for Teacher Residencies, returns for its second year!

In collaboration with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), Deans for Impact (DFI), The Hunt Institute, the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the National Education Association (NEA), and Teacher-Powered Schools, this national event will bring together teachers, university/college faculty, education deans, teacher leaders, school district personnel and superintendents, state licensure and certification professionals, education leaders, and state and federal policymakers.

In its second year, the national event will be held April 9-11, 2025, at the Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

The National Symposium will feature two national education leaders–Author and Teacher Dr. Christopher Emdin and 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey–as keynote speakers and more than 125 presenters engaging conference attendees in over 50 sessions aligned with the event’s four strands: teacher leadership, educator preparation program, district/school leader, and policy. Attendees will participate in sessions and workshops that will examine strategies that improve the recruitment, preparation, and retention of effective teachers with a focus on educators who represent, honor, and value the communities they serve.

Early bird registration is currently open! Tickets are limited, so secure your seat today!

Become a Sponsor!

Sponsor the National Symposium for Educator Preparation, Policy, and Leadership in Chicago! Your support of this three-day event would make a difference in bringing education leaders and supporters to improve the preparation of teachers in U.S. schools, and your organization will receive recognition as a strong supporter of effective educators in the classroom.

Sponsorships for 2025 are currently available. View our 2025 Sponsorship Opportunities or contact symposium@nctresidencies.org for more information.

Sponsorships are available on a first-come, first-served basis and will be accepted through January 15, 2025.

Request for Proposals

The application process to present at the National Symposium for 2025 is currently closed! Thank you!

The National Symposium Design Team will notify everyone who submits a proposal between October 23-30, 2024.

Rewind: National Symposium 2024

The organizers of the National Symposium 2024 thank the NCTR team; its collaborators; keynote speakers: Leslie T. Fenwick, Ph.D., and Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D.; presenters and panelists; and all attendees who contributed to the success of last year’s sold-out event.

Thank you for your support!

What Attendees Had to Say

Thank you for an extremely well organized and thoughtful conference! Thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of the best conferences I have been to in a while.

I so appreciate the professionalism of the NCTR staff and your support of our work.

This was a fantastic event that exceeded all expectations!

Thanks for all the work in organizing this event. It was so helpful to our organization.

I really appreciate the work that went into making the conference happen.