Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina

Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina: Exploring In-Classroom Preparation for the Next Generation of Teachers

Research has consistently found that teachers are the single-most important in-school factor for student success. For those seeking policy solutions that will improve student achievement, there is nothing more vital than a teacher pipeline that recruits high-quality candidates, provides them with opportunities to learn and grow in the profession, and retains them over time as their expertise and effectiveness increases.

BEST NC’s latest policy brief examines the past, present, and possible future of teacher apprenticeship, the benefits and barriers this initiative presents for North Carolina’s current teacher recruitment strategy, and our recommendations for future analysis and implementation.

North Carolina's Proposed Teacher Apprenticeship Initiative: TeachReadyNC™

A Paid Pathway to Prepared Teachers

TeachReadyNC addresses the challenges created by the growing pipeline of alternatively licensed teachers: college-educated professionals who are interested in becoming a teacher but have no required traditional teacher preparation or classroom experience. It is designed to disrupt the costly cycle of teacher turnover, giving students access to more experienced, more effective teachers, while creating an apprenticeship pathway for college-educated professionals who are eager to enter the teaching profession but do not have adequate formal training or experience, as an alternative to Permit-to-Teach or Emergency Licenses.

The goal of TeachReadyNC is to improve student outcomes by ensuring all students — especially in low-wealth or hard-to-staff districts — have access to effective, well-prepared teachers by reducing reliance on underprepared candidates; offering affordable, accessible licensure pathways for teacher candidates; improving teacher retention through mentorship and progressive pay; enhancing teacher preparedness with job-embedded training; using evidence-based tools to identify core qualities and skills that are needed for teaching; establishing a select corps of well-supported mentor teachers; and empowering HR/personnel administrators with tools and skills to staff strategically.