Teachers are every bit as important as doctors. Just like doctors, they need to work alongside accomplished professionals to learn their craft. Borrowing from medical preparation, residency models pay aspiring teachers to work in classrooms with expert educators for a full year before they graduate. There, they gain firsthand experience and apply theory to practice in a safe, supervised learning environment.
Bank Street Education Center
Prepared To Teach
Shifting the teacher preparation paradigm for the public good.
Prepared To Teach works across the country to solve a key problem in education: making sure everyone who wants to be a teacher can afford to attend a quality preparation program.
All teachers need hands-on practice and pedagogical knowledge before entering the classroom. Prepared To Teach partners with preparation programs, districts, and schools to develop residencies that provide both. The best part? We bring financial models that work within existing budgets to design strong residency partnerships.
We rely on proven strategies to make high-quality teacher preparation more accessible. All of our partnerships are about creating common-sense programs that work for everyone—teachers, faculty, school leaders, aspiring educators, and students. Learn more about the residency model, funding for teacher candidates, and how we work with local institutions below.
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The Residency Model
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Why Pay Teacher Candidates?
Research shows that when aspiring teachers are paid to practice for a year before leading a classroom, everyone wins—teachers stay longer, schools are stronger, and families have access to excellent education.
Three important things happen when residencies pay teacher candidates:
- More diverse individuals can afford to enter the profession.
- Aspiring teachers have more time and energy to focus on learning the art of teaching.
- New teachers graduate with more confidence in their skills and committment to the profession.
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Adapting to Local Contexts
Funded residencies make better teachers, and better teachers help students, schools, and communities succeed. But each context is different. The best residency model for New Mexico isn’t necessarily the best for New Jersey.
With that in mind, the Prepared To Teach team has spent two years working with districts and preparation programs across 20 states. We’ve designed flexible models that help programs achieve financial sustainably. Our next step is to share the ideas with districts, preparation programs, and policymakers throughout the country.
An Education Ecosystem that Works
What would it look like if we changed how we prepare teachers? Research shows that when aspiring teachers are paid to practice for a year before leading a classroom, communities see big benefits.
Better teachers mean better schools.
High-quality teacher preparation is possible.
All aspiring teachers should be well-prepared for success in the classroom—and that means having the support necessary to participate in high-quality clinical practice that allows candidates to explore the complexities of pedagogy, to apply theory and research in diverse contexts, and to reflect on their own learning and development.
How We Do It
Resources for Our Work
Meet Our Team
Prepared To Teach develops sustainable streams of public funding to support high-quality teacher preparation that brings practice into conversation with pedagogy. The result is teacher preparation that’s built to last, thanks to a focus on partnerships and sustainability.