National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR)

NCTR Summary

Mission

NCTR disrupts historic educational inequities by advancing the teacher residency movement to prepare effective, diverse, culturally responsive educators.

Vision

Students of color and low-income students have equitable access to effective, diverse, culturally responsive educators.

Founded in 2007, the ​ National Center for Teacher Residencies​​ (NCTR) is a national non-profit organization headquartered in Chicago with team members working virtually throughout the country. NCTR’s mission is to grow and manage a national network of teacher residencies dedicated to closing the opportunity gap through the training, support, and retention of excellent teachers for students of color and other marginalized groups. NCTR is accelerating its growth as it helps to build, support, and scale even greater numbers of high-performing teacher residencies. Our programs and services are built upon its research-based Standards for Effective Residencies, which define the design and implementation targets of high-performing residency programs and identify the benchmarks for program development. 

NCTR offers targeted support to existing teacher residency programs, both inside and outside of the NCTR network, that helps identify strengths and challenges, refine programming, create opportunities for professional growth for resident-teachers, mentors, residency staff, and evaluate impact and outcomes. Additionally, NCTR’s Residency Design Academy (RDA) is the only program of its kind in the nation dedicated to developing high-quality teacher residencies from inception to launch. Since 2008, NCTR has supported the development of over a dozen new residency programs through the RDA. As NCTR expands its Strategic Consulting business line, it will focus on improving and expanding the reach, impact, and scale of the RDA.

A collaborative, mission-driven organization, NCTR is working to ensure that students in high-need schools have access to effective teachers. NCTR accomplishes this goal through the development and sustainability of high-performing residency programs.  In addition to exemplifying our core values, our team emphasizes the importance of building personal relationships with one another and maintaining a strong work/life balance. We prioritize our culture to ensure our team members feel fully supported and satisfied in their roles. 

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

NCTR’s vision is to ensure that all students have access to a quality teacher is carried out through our mission to launch and support high-performing residency programs that prepare highly effective teachers. We acknowledge the role of America’s educational system in systemic oppression and take collective responsibility to challenge and correct these systems and structures. At NCTR, we advocate for a just educational system and believe that being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization will enable us to achieve our mission and improve outcomes for all the students, teachers, and programs we serve. NCTR Invites individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to identify challenges and enact solutions to teacher preparation challenges. We honor and celebrate each individual’s strengths and aspire to model diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are committed to providing resources and modeling best practices for our partner organizations, who seek to improve teacher pipelines and ensure all students have access to quality teachers. 

Core Values

NCTR is transforming teacher preparation nationwide to ensure all children have access to an effective teacher. Our core values reflect who we are as an organization and how we work with our clients and our community.

• Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
•  Solutions-oriented
• Continuous Learning
• Data-driven
• Collaboration