Reports from the Secondary STEM Teaching Residency Advisory Group

Texas faces persistent shortages of certified secondary teachers, most acutely in mathematics, science, and computer science. Recently, Texas became the first state in the nation to create an “enhanced residency” teaching certificate to encourage expansion of residency programs. Teacher residencies are a promising response because they provide extended, coached practice integrated with coursework.

To address this gap, the UTeach Institute, with support from the Gates Foundation, led a two-year effort to reimagine residencies to improve access to these pathways for undergraduate disciplinary majors.

2025 — Solutions to Expand Access to Secondary STEM and Other Disciplinary Major Candidates

The advisory group of practitioner experts organized its final analysis around four categories of key elements that consistently distinguish high-quality residencies and are particularly relevant in the Texas context: partnerships and shared governance, co-teaching and mentorship, candidate recruitment and retention, and strategic staffing.

2024 — Considerations for Secondary STEM Candidates

This study employed surveys and interviews of Texas higher education and K–12 stakeholders preparing and supporting STEM teachers to investigate the perceived value of residency approaches, the prevalence of research-based and best-practice program features, and challenges faced by candidates and educator preparation programs in implementing residency structures.

Download the Executive Summary

Download the Full Report