NCTR’s Policy Work

NCTR collaborates with local, state, and federal governments, as well as national advocacy organizations, to improve conditions for teacher residencies and increase their individual and collective impact.

To transform the ways in which educators are prepared and supported, NCTR:

• Advocates for policies to support the launch, scale, and sustainability of teacher residency programs at the local, state, and federal levels, including improving access to public funding sources for high-quality preparation pathways;
• Convenes Network members to facilitate collective problem solving, idea sharing, and collaboration, improving the impact of teacher residency programs nationwide;
• Disseminates evidence-based practices to transform teacher preparation through research, publications, and presentations; and
• Collaborates with educational advocacy organizations to propel the movement of teacher residencies and increase their individual and collective impact.

Helpful Resources

50-State Comparison: Teacher Recruitment and Retention

The 50-State Comparison: Teacher Recruitment and Retention (December 2022) is a resource provided by the Education Commission of the States that compiles state-specific data related to teacher shortages and provides a national comparison of state policies to recruit and retain teachers across the pipeline.

Towards a National Definition of Teacher Residencies

NCTR joined the Pathways Alliance to develop this definition of teacher residencies to help clarify the field’s use of the term. This document is intended to support local partnership discussions about teacher residency design and improvements and to provide state, regional, and federal leaders with a condensed yet thorough definition to guide policies that can support high-quality residencies to attract, prepare, and retain a robust and diverse teaching workforce.