Strategic staffing models that redirect district instructional-support funds to subsidize paid residency stipends¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

Strategic staffing "redirect district funds, typically for instructional support staff positions like substitute teachers or paraprofessionals, to subsidize residency stipends by having residents fulfill some of these responsibilities". US PREP provided technical assistance to help districts implement this as part of the TCLAS grant program, and Regional Education Service Centers continue to offer it. The report suggests this may make residency pathways more affordable to more candidates and shift pathway-choice market dynamics.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Residents receive scaffolded support in their strategic staffing roles
• Residents spend the large majority of their time working alongside their mentor teacher to maintain clinical rigor

Constraints¶

• The report presents this as a funding sustainability approach; it does not report a measured effect of strategic staffing on candidate outcomes

Target Learners¶

• Teacher residency candidates needing financial support to complete a yearlong unpaid-or-low-paid clinical year

Target Learning Goals¶

• Completion of a full-year clinical residency while attaining certification

Claims¶

• Strategic staffing freed insufficient funds to sustain $20,000 stipends in some smaller and rural districts [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Reallocate existing district roles and budget lines—substitute teaching, paraeducator positions, and extended-day staffing—to fund and pay residents
• Sustain paid residencies through strategic staffing that reallocates resident instructional support roles
• Use state completer survey data within accreditation to flag struggling programs and expand subsidized high-quality clinical pathways for underserved candidates
• District investment of LCFF funds in residency stipends written into Local Control and Accountability Plans as a workforce development strategy
• Employ residency residents as the second adult in TK classrooms using assistant teacher or paraprofessional budget lines

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Bland, J. A., Ralph, K., Wei, W., Wang, V., Wojcikiewicz, S. K., & Wechsler, M. E. (2025). Investing in a high-quality teacher workforce: Lessons from Texas teacher preparation programs. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/871.327