October 4, 2022 — I’m so pleased and grateful to have participated and met with many of our Network partners at NCTR’s Symposium last month in Chicago. It was an inspiring, joyful, and productive event. The good news is that we’re only just getting started!
As always, a key aspect of NCTR programming this year will be collecting, analyzing, and working through various data with our Network partners. NCTR’s data collection efforts have been essential to learning and sharing with others how our Network partners continue to grow, diversify, and advance equity within the teaching profession. We know via our latest annual report, for example, that despite a downward trend in national enrollment in teacher preparation programs, total and average enrollment for NCTR Network programs have remained fairly steady and even increased last year. We also know how NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative (BEI) and the practices that several of our partners are implementing are diversifying their programs and supporting the recruitment, preparation, and wellbeing of teacher residents, especially Black residents.
“[My program] has given me the community I need to support me and provided me with tools for practicing self-care and compassion for myself and others.” – BEI-Supported Teacher Resident, 2021-2022
“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to take part in an affinity group in collaboration with my cohort. The safe space to ask questions, express myself, and gain insight from others in the group was a great, added layer of knowledge.” – BEI-Supported Teacher Resident, 2021-2022
NCTR and our partners have also used NCTR-collected data to great effect. Together, we’ve been able to use these data to:
- inform public discourse and policies around teacher residencies;
- advance public and academic knowledge about effective, equitable teacher preparation and residency practices;
- secure funding that supports and sustains residency programs, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field;
- better understand how we and our partners can enhance our impact on the field and their stakeholders; and not least of all,
- share our partners’ and their stakeholders’ experiences, and recruit and welcome more future teachers into the field as a result.
Ultimately, we hope that our data collection efforts help to uplift, enhance, and build support for all of the great work of our partners, as well as their residents and other stakeholders. We continue to be incredibly grateful for our partners’ participation and collaboration in our data collection efforts. We look forward to continuing these efforts and helping write the next chapter of the residency movement.
Sincerely,
Kevin Levay