October 3, 2023 — This month marks the conclusion of the first of three years of NCTR’s $6.7 million Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant from the U.S. Department of Education, titled “Centering Equity; Building and Scaling Teacher Residencies” (Centering Equity). Centering Equity was designed to further NCTR’s mission to develop and support high-quality teacher residency programs. To that end, Centering Equity is providing support to existing teacher residency programs in NCTR’s Network in their efforts to recruit and prepare more teachers of color. It also created the opportunity to develop new teacher residency programs primarily at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). It will also allow NCTR to deepen and expand the curriculum and resources that make up our Levers for Equitable Teacher Residencies through partnerships with organizations who specialize in elements of teacher residency design and operation. We’re excited to tell you about what has transpired in this first year with SEED.
A multi-year grant like SEED positions NCTR to provide technical assistance and dollars to teacher residency programs over several years, allowing us to truly ‘dig in’ and spend the time it takes to create meaningful change. With this in mind, the one-year anniversary merely marks one-third of the journey we are on with the 14 teacher residency programs we have partnered with in this grant.
- Five Network member teacher residencies—Connecticut Teacher Residency Program, RTR, Nashville Teacher Residency, Elizabeth City Pathways to Teach and Delaware State University—are expanding into new school districts. In year one, Centering Equity funded the teacher residency experience of 100 teacher residents across these five Network members’ teacher residency programs.
- East Carolina University (ECU) and Winston Salem State University (WSSU) progressed in their efforts to develop new teacher residency programs. At the end of year one, both ECU and WSSU have hired teacher residency directors and are actively recruiting and preparing teacher residents. North Carolina A&T University, Livingstone College, Shaw University, St. Augustine University, Bennett College, and North Carolina Central University are now beginning the process of designing teacher residency programs after spending most of 2023 with NCTR consultants understanding the teacher residency model and determining how best to meet the needs of their communities.
Centering Equity is also providing resources to support NCTR’s interest in deepening our curriculum related to two of the eight Levers for Equitable Teacher Residencies: 1) Financial Sustainability; and 2) Mentor Recruitment, Selection, and Support. The ongoing work that NCTR is completing with our collaborators—Education Resource Strategies (ERS) for the financial work and the Teacher Development Network (TDN) for the mentor professional learning—will lead to tools, curriculum, and resources that will reach all 62 Network partners and the 12 programs enrolled in our Residency Design Academy (RDA) this year. As we continue to partner with these organizations and build out our new curriculum and resources across the three years of the grant, we look forward to sharing new insights and offering new opportunities to further strengthen teacher residencies.
Sincerely,
Bill Kennedy, Ph.D.
NCTR Managing Director of Partnerships and Development