District/Prep Partnerships

Strong partnerships yield strong first-year teachers.

DESE is committed to ensuring that every child in Massachusetts, especially students who need the most, have access to effective teachers and leaders. One promising strategy to improve our teacher preparation is to build close formal partnerships between our prep programs and our school districts.

Benefits to Partnerships

Strong partnerships mutually benefit the prep program, the school district and the first-year teacher.

For the first-year teacher, the number of variables is dramatically reduced. The culture is familiar. The students are familiar. He or she has already established productive mentoring relationships with colleagues and administrators. Most importantly, he or she has been trained to address the specific needs of the district.

For the district, they have the ability to hire teachers who have already proven themselves in their classrooms, thus improving both the impact of their new teachers and the probability of their retention.

For the prep program, they improve the quality of their students' practicum experiences and establish a stable pipeline of employment for their completers.

Additional Resources

• Formal Review Advisory: Partnerships Domain
• Partnership Toolkit
• District Pipeline Advisory
• Status of the Educator Workforce (December 2013)
• 10-year Workforce Demand Study (published by AIR in collaboration with ESE)
• Statewide Educator Preparation Employment Data (Edwin Analytics)
• Ensuring High-Quality Teacher Talent (published by Ed First)

Last Updated: June 20, 2018