Across the nation, many school systems struggle to provide all students with high-quality educators. This challenge is particularly acute for students in underserved school communities. Research shows that teachers who go through high-quality educator preparation programs (EPPs), such as those that provide extensive clinical student teaching, are more effective and remain in the profession longer than those prepared through alternative or “fast-track” routes.
Unfortunately, the potential high costs of these robust pathways can be prohibitive, leading some aspiring teachers to opt for less expensive alternatives that may not adequately prepare them. Ensuring that teachers have access to high-quality teacher preparation requires state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) to collaborate with EPPs to create models that are both affordable and financially sustainable.
This resource collection offers models, strategies, and research to help policymakers, funders, SEAs, and higher education institutions design EPPs that are both accessible and sustainable to build a stronger teacher workforce for the long term.
California’s State Educator Workforce Collaborative
California schools continue to face chronic educator shortages, forcing many districts to meet staffing needs with substitute teachers and educators who have not received adequate preservice preparation. Ensuring every learner has access to a well-prepared educator requires strategic collaboration and data sharing between PK–12 and educator preparation at the state and local levels. To this end, WestEd is facilitating the California State Educator Workforce Collaborative, which brings together major state agencies and institutions to improve implementation of investments in the educator workforce and establish sustainable cross-agency collaboration. The first phase of the Collaborative’s work focused on improving access and affordability to high-quality, clinically rich teacher preparation pathways.
Funding Resources for California Educator Preparation Program Leaders
The Collaborative created a suite of resources for EPP leaders to identify sustainable funding, including the Teacher Preparation Program Funding Explorer, a searchable database of federal and state dollars and grant opportunities that can be applied toward teacher preparation programs, and a set of detailed funding profiles to model approaches to sustainable residency program funding.
Financial Resources for Teacher Candidates in California
At the same time the Collaborative created resources for EPPs, it also developed user-friendly financial resources for teaching candidates to learn how they can fund their future in the profession, including Teacher Candidate Funding Explorer, a searchable funding source database, and a set of funding profiles showcasing different funding packages for aspiring teachers.
Strengthening California’s Teacher Workforce: Toward a Statewide Strategic Framework
By WestEd
Building on the Collaborative’s first 3 years of partnership, this report presents a proposed strategic framework that will inform the Collaborative’s next phase of work. The work will include setting statewide measurable goals for the teacher workforce and establishing the state roles, systems, and infrastructure to implement the goals and sustain the Collaborative beyond the initial grant period.
Teacher Residency Programs in California: Financial Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities
By Kate Hirschboeck, Melissa Eiler White, Andrew Brannegan, and Frances Reade
In this first report to the CTC, WestEd identified a critical challenge to ensuring the success of the program: financial sustainability. The report offers policy and program recommendations for financially sustaining the residency.
Barriers to the Scalability and Sustainability of California’s Teacher Residency Grant Program
By Kate Hirschboeck, Maggie Hannan, Andrew Brannegan, and Melissa Eiler White
This evaluation brief presents five barriers to the long-term sustainability and scale of TRGP-funded residencies. Across these specific barriers, two key structural problems with the TRGP are evident: most residents are not yet receiving the necessary financial support to make residencies an affordable option, and many residency programs are not yet structured to scale and sustain beyond the life of the TRGP.
Educator Registered Apprenticeships: Funding Profiles for Five Programs
By Erica Mallett Moore, Dana Grayson, John Diaz, and Melissa Rasberry
Teacher Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs are a promising pathway for recruiting and retaining teachers while prioritizing affordability. This report examines the funding structures of RA programs in five states, providing education leaders with a range of approaches to RA program funding.
Improving Access and Affordability of High-Quality Teacher Preparation
By Melissa Rasberry and Dana Grayson
This infographic serves as a quick reference of four resource planning strategies to improve access to and affordability of high-quality preparation for teaching candidates.
Strengthening Funding Resilience for Educator Preparation Program Grantees: Lessons from Program Leaders
Fiscal sustainability of EPPs is essential for providing high-quality, affordable, and accessible pathways into the teaching profession. In this webinar hosted by WestEd, panelists provide ideas and approaches to supporting funding sustainability in EPPs over the short and long terms.
How Educator Preparation Programs are Navigating A Shifting Funding Landscape
Drawing on the webinar above, Dana Grayson, Director of WestEd’s Teacher Workforce team, in partnership with New America, illuminates how EPPs are navigating a shifting funding landscape to design programs with funding that’s built to last.