Across the country, districts and schools struggle with persistent teacher shortages. Many states have attempted to bolster the supply of teachers by loosening credentialing requirements or implementing fast-track programs that quickly bring new teachers into the classroom, often without student teaching or robust coursework about how to teach. However, underprepared teachers are not only less effective on average but also leave teaching at significantly higher rates than fully prepared teachers. The resulting teacher turnover, which is disproportionately experienced by underresourced schools, undermines student achievement and carries high costs for the schools and districts that need to replace the teachers who leave.
Some states, including California, have taken a different approach, launching new teacher preparation models called teacher residencies that subsidize and support high-quality preparation for teaching in high-need shortage areas. Modeled after medical residencies, teacher residency programs are partnerships between local education agencies (LEAs) and educator preparation programs (EPPs) that require teacher candidates—typically referred to as “residents”—to spend a full year in a clinical placement alongside an expert teacher while completing highly integrated coursework focused on skills for successful teaching. In paid residency programs, residents typically make a multiyear commitment to teach in the host LEA following program completion in exchange for financial support during preparation. This commitment to stay and teach in the host LEA makes residencies particularly appealing for LEAs that aim to improve retention.
Teacher Residencies in California
Like other states, California has faced significant and ongoing teacher shortages. In response to these shortages, California has made significant investments—amounting to more than $1.4 billion since 2016—in teacher recruitment and preparation in general, including funding specifically to support residency pathways. Residency-specific investments have included the Teacher Residency Grant Program (2018–2023) and the Statewide Residency Technical Assistance Center Grant Program (2022). Other state investments have included the Golden State Teacher Grant Program; the Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program; the Integrated Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program Grant; the Local Solutions to the Shortage of Special Education Teachers Grant; and the Teacher Credential, Examination, and Performance Assessment Fee Waiver Program.
Preliminary data suggest that California’s investments are paying off in terms of providing highly prepared, racially diverse teachers. In 2021, about 10% of the state’s teacher preparation completers—more than 1,200—self-identified as having been prepared through a residency, and between 2019 and 2022, 758 completers attended a program funded by the Teacher Residency Grant Program (TRGP). According to a WestEd study, 69% of program completers from the first three cohorts in residency programs funded by the TRGP identified as people of color (compared with 55% of student teaching and internship completers).
Overall, analyses of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s (CTC’s) 2021–22 and 2022–23 program completer survey data (including programs not funded by the TRGP) were consistent with and expanded on WestEd’s findings. Candidates who were prepared through a residency were more likely to identify as candidates of color and rate their preparation as very effective compared with those who took other pathways. In addition, residency completers reported more intensive clinical experiences with higher levels of support and feedback and were more likely to pass teaching performance assessments on their first attempt.
Study Approach
As a result of the expansion of teacher residencies within the California landscape, we have the opportunity to examine examples of successful residencies to understand how they operate. In a series of case studies, we examined five of the state’s most effective programs, as indicated by graduates and their employers: the Alder Graduate School of Education Master’s and Credential Teacher Residency Program; Claremont Graduate University Teacher Education Program; Kern Urban Teacher Residency at California State University, Bakersfield; Teacher Residency for Rural Education at California State University, Bakersfield; and Tri-County Teacher Residency Program at California State University, Monterey Bay. These programs were purposively selected because they incorporated research-backed characteristics of effective residencies, which allowed the research team to understand the specifics of how the programs implemented these characteristics. The studied programs were located at two public and two private institutions of higher education; served between 15 and 325 residents, the majority of whom identified as people of color; offered different credentialing options; and had other unique programming characteristics. Four of the five studied residencies worked with LEAs that had received funding from the California TRGP.
This report includes program descriptions and cross-case findings related to key program characteristics that are commonly found in effective residencies, plus additional programming considerations that emerged from our case studies. We suggest several strategies for sustaining and strengthening residencies, both at the program level and through state and federal policies.
What Matters for Successful Residencies
Across programs, 11 practices emerged as particular promoters of success. Observed program practices were consistent with the following eight key characteristics previously identified by the Learning Policy Institute and the Pathways Alliance as common to effective residency programs:
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Strong LEA–EPP partnerships that include a shared vision and goals, dedicated and sustainable staffing toward residency management with clear articulation of roles and responsibilities, regular and frequent meeting times and communication, and collaborative troubleshooting.
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Selectively recruited diverse candidates to meet district hiring needs through targeted recruitment that is designed to promote a good fit for the prospective resident, the program, and the partner LEA; ongoing communication and outreach to prospective applicants; and reenvisioned admissions processes that remove common barriers without sacrificing candidate selectivity.
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A full-year teaching experience alongside an expert mentor teacher that allows for exposure to the full arc of the school year and involves guided gradual release of responsibilities in residents’ clinical experiences, with frequent high-quality feedback for residents as they develop their pedagogical practice.
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Expert mentor teachers who coteach with residents and are carefully recruited, selected, and matched with residents; compensated and incentivized in ways that recognize their critical role in preparing residents; and given opportunities for ongoing professional development.
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Coursework about teaching and learning that is tightly integrated with clinical practice and, additionally, leads to a cohesive program curriculum that has been designed to meet the needs of partner LEAs and involves program structures and schedules that are feasible for residents.
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Cohorts of residents that are supported through intentional community building and placement in clusters at residency clinical placement sites.
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Financial supports for residents, namely a residency-year stipend that helps cover living expenses, is accompanied by financial aid advising and additional resources toward program-related costs, and is sustainably funded through the blending and braiding of funds with EPP and LEA cost sharing.
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Ongoing mentoring and support for graduates, including guidance through the credentialing process and support for the transition into full-time employment and induction.
Building on these eight previously identified characteristics, findings from the current study point to three additional characteristics that were common across the studied programs:
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Proactive whole person supports that residents can easily access through a “go-to person,” including strong program communication; active monitoring of resident progress; course instructors and clinical coaches with diverse backgrounds that mirror residents’ intersectional identities; and attention to basic needs such as housing, child care, transportation, food security, and access to health and wellness care.
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Ongoing development of program capacity that focuses on regular data collection and analysis, increases coordination with other EPP pathways and campus resources, and accesses technical assistance support as appropriate.
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Explicit focus on promoting equity for both residents and the students they teach through equity-oriented mission and vision statements, program design that minimizes common barriers, and program learning objectives that prepare residents to enact equity-focused teaching practices.
Recommendations
State and federal investments in residency pathways have provided essential support for the initiation, growth, and continuous improvement of the programs we studied and the residents who participate in them. Given that residencies have shown promise in helping districts solve shortages, preparing effective teachers, recruiting residents from diverse backgrounds, and making the teaching profession more accessible to candidates from historically excluded groups, we offer the following state- and federal-level recommendations for supporting high-quality residency pathways.
Recommendations for California Policymakers
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Maintain funding for the California Teacher Residency Grant Program. Funding should be maintained through and beyond the 2026–27 school year (when funding is due to expire), with continued attention to ensuring that both EPPs and LEAs can build effective capacity for management, work toward sustainable funding models, and provide financial packages for candidates that adequately support their living expenses during the residency year.
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Continue to provide financial aid for prospective teachers who will teach in high-need communities, including residents. The Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which provides $20,000 in tuition support for students enrolled in a CTC-approved teacher preparation program, is due to expire in 2025–26, with funds expected to run out in 2024–25. Renewing this program (with adjustments for inflation) or creating an alternative reliable source of financial aid for candidates, such as a guaranteed forgivable loan tied to service, can support continued access for the diverse set of candidates that residencies tend to serve.
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Support residencies in establishing apprenticeship funding streams. With state leadership, a residency program could be structured as a teacher apprenticeship, as outlined in Department of Labor–approved national guidelines and standards, thereby enabling these programs to potentially leverage federal and state workforce development funding.
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Continue to fund and develop thoughtful technical assistance that helps residencies design sustainable, high-quality models. In 2023, California launched the Statewide Residency Technical Assistance Center (SRTAC) to support the scaling and sustainability of residencies. SRTAC has huge potential to support capacity-building for residencies, particularly in key areas such as partnership development, program management, coursework and clinical alignment, and support for residents. There are numerous ways that SRTAC can build program capacity, such as by helping match residency programs with existing technical assistance providers, providing grant-writing support, developing tools that synthesize recommendations for strengthening residencies, and creating template documents that programs can modify to fit their context. Developing relationships with residency programs can provide a foundation for facilitating meaningful program transformation over time.
States can do a great deal to strengthen their teaching workforce with support for residencies. As of 2024, there were 23 states, including the District of Columbia, that had created or supported such programs in their state-level policies. Federal policymakers can also play a role in ensuring that these models spread and that prospective teachers can afford to access high-quality preservice preparation and stay in the teaching profession.
Recommendations for Federal Policymakers
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Expand funding for the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Grant Program. TQP grants have provided important sources of start-up funding for several studied residencies and for many more across the country. Expanded funding for TQP grants can help more residencies similarly launch, develop, and expand their programming.
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Upgrade the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant to cover the full cost of tuition. For prospective teachers to be able to afford comprehensive preparation, they need adequate financial support. Increasing the federal TEACH Grant amount to cover the cost of pre- or postbaccalaureate teacher preparation can increase the attractiveness and feasibility of preservice teacher preparation programs, including teacher residencies, particularly for diverse candidates.
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Cover teachers’ monthly loan payments until their debt is retired. Existing federal loan forgiveness programs require teachers to shoulder monthly payments for years with salaries that are lower than those of similarly educated professionals. These programs could instead be structured such that teachers’ federal loan payments are covered by the federal government as long as they remain in the classroom until the loans are fully repaid, a policy that could serve as an incentive for both recruitment and retention.
Successful Teacher Residencies: What Matters and What Works by Julie Fitz and Cathy Yun is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This research was supported by the Gates Foundation. Core operating support for LPI is provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Heising-Simons Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Raikes Foundation, Sandler Foundation, Skyline Foundation, and MacKenzie Scott. We are grateful to them for their generous support. The ideas voiced here are those of the authors and not those of our funders.