Deans for Impact Launches Texas Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program Tour to Highlight Exemplary Preparation Practices

AUSTIN, Texas (November 18, 2024) – National nonprofit organization Deans for Impact (DFI) is launching a learning tour of Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs (RTAPs) in Texas to lift up local challenges and best practices in high-quality teacher preparation. These site visits aim to unearth exemplary components of RTAPs that can be scaled and replicated to address critical state – and national – challenges across teacher effectiveness, diversity, and retention.

Texas is experiencing one of the most severe teacher certification issues in the country, with 52 percent of new teachers entering the classroom this 2024-25 school year uncertified. Additionally, the state’s teacher attrition rate reached a historic high of 13.4 percent in 2022-23. The dearth of certified, quality teachers has a direct consequence on student learning. Research demonstrates that students can lose about four months of learning in reading and three months of learning in math from an uncertified teacher.

RTAPs are a structured path into teaching that is often more affordable and hands-on than alternative teacher licensure options. By embedding aspiring teachers, or “teacher apprentices,” directly into school settings, these programs can foster more opportunities for practice that are intentionally woven throughout the teacher apprentices' experience and increase in complexity over time, including developing strong instructional skills. Under the mentorship of certified educators, these teacher apprentice placements can be intentionally designed to meet the immediate needs of the communities they serve. The number of U.S. states implementing RTAPs has grown rapidly, from two in 2022 to 47 in 2024. Last year, DFI co-authored the National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for K-12 Teacher Apprenticeships, approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, to set the bar for quality in the building and implementation of RTAPs.

"These programs have the potential to address urgent educator workforce needs, while reducing barriers to teacher certification,” said Patrick Steck, Vice President of External Affairs at DFI. “Our learning tour will bring the best of emerging Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs to light, enabling more local, state, and national leaders to learn and adopt impactful strategies for more accessible, practice-based, and instructionally-focused pathways at scale. DFI is committed to ensuring all students are taught by well-prepared teachers, and we can make this a reality by strengthening and diversifying all pathways into teaching.” 

Program visits will feature classroom observations, interviews with teacher apprentices and mentors (“journeymakers”), and deep dives into funding, design, and community engagement with local leaders. DFI will build collective knowledge about how high-quality apprenticeship programs can contribute to greater teacher efficacy and student outcomes, especially in communities with the highest rates of uncertified teachers, novice teachers, and teacher turnover. 

In addition to the learning tour, DFI is conducting a first-of-its-kind landscape analysis of RTAPs in Texas that includes key findings on the 15+ programs currently being designed, built, or implemented throughout the state. The analysis will be publicly released in December of this year.

The tour and landscape analysis are made possible with the support of Houston Endowment, Inc. and align with DFI's mission to foster more accessible, high-quality pathways into teaching. Texas-based educator-preparation program leaders, district administrators, policymakers, members of the media, and community organizations are encouraged to join the learning tour. DFI will also share multimedia case studies, resources, and briefs with learnings from these visits.

Subscribe to DFI’s RTAPs newsletter to stay up-to-date on best practices and insights from the learning tour: linkedin.com/newsletters/on-the-ground-with-rtaps-7264327197128040448/.

For more information, visit deansforimpact.org/registered-apprenticeships.

About Deans for Impact (DFI)

DFI is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure every child is taught by well-prepared teachers. We support educator-preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice; partner with policymakers to ensure pathways into teaching are accessible, practice-based, and focused on instruction; and equip leaders with the tools to address today’s most pressing challenges in educator preparation. Guided by principles of cognitive science, we aim to help aspiring and early-career teachers create rigorous and inclusive classrooms where all children thrive. To learn more, visit deansforimpact.org.

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Media contact: 
Cece Zhou
czhou@deansforimpact.org
248-854-0630