Scaling high-quality teacher residencies can be challenging. We recognize that as an educator preparation program plans to scale up its high-quality programming, there may be unintended and undesired impacts to program quality. To counteract potential challenges, we identified three strategies teacher preparation program leaders can pursue to help maintain program quality as it scales.

Strategy 1: Pre-Scale Planning

Adequate planning for scale can help a program maintain its quality. During the pre-scale planning process, a teacher preparation program might identify potential risks to quality, such as the availability of fewer high-quality mentor teachers, and identify new, innovative solutions to address those risks.

Strategy 2: Training

A teacher preparation program should provide training for staff and others with a significant role in scale up to ensure these educators have the information, tools and resources needed to effectively fulfill their new and expanded responsibilities. For example, moving all pathways towards a full year of clinical experience required University of Houston to ensure that all faculty understood the implications for candidate support and coursework. As a result, University of Houston faculty are intimately involved in the residency, working directly in schools with mentors and students.

Strategy 3: Data-Driven Decision Making

Data informed decision making can also help an educator preparation program maximize program fidelity. An educator preparation program can regularly gather and assess data (such as candidate attrition) to identify real time effects on program quality and adjust to minimize negative impacts. For example, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley transitioned from a culture of compliance to a culture of inquiry by first scaling its data system. Doing so ensures that any efforts to improve the programs are based on quality, actionable data, leading to program improvement.