National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR)

In 2022, NCTR received a $6.26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education; the description included with the grant was “Centering Equity: Building and Scaling Teachers Residencies.” As of early April 2025, over $4 million of the grant had been paid out. ⁴

Background

The National Center for Teacher Residencies is a left-of-center education group that organizes teacher residency programs, a process through which aspiring teachers are matched with experienced teachers to serve as mentors. ¹

NCTR works on behalf of the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity. In 2022, the group received a $6.26 million award from the U.S. Department of Education with the description “Centering Equity: Building and Scaling Teachers Residencies.” Additionally, NCTR claims that equity is central in its work to change systems that “perpetuate inequity.” ⁵

Activities

The National Center for Teacher Residencies runs a national network of teacher residency programs. NCTR claims to have 62 network members, 77 network member programs, and 2,225 teachers enrolled in the program, and claims that over 500,000 students have been taught by teachers affiliated with the program as of 2024. ⁶

In 2024, NCTR announced that it would be funding 29 teacher residency programs in the amount of nearly $6 million through its Black Educators Initiative. The BEI program was initially funded by a $20 million grant in 2019 by the Ballmer Group. NCTR’s BEI program is intended to play “a crucial role in fostering diversity and inclusion within schools” with the aim to eventually hire and retain 2,400 teachers. NCTR stated in 2024 that the program would be funded for the next five years through a $40 million grant from the Ballmer Group. ^{7 3}

Funding

In 2023, the National Center for Teacher Residencies reported revenue of $9,501,441, its expenses were $9,705,703, and its total assets were $7,766,347.  ⁸

The Ballmer Group has scheduled a commitment of $40 million for the NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative over the 2024-2029 period. NCTR also claims that in 2019 the Ballmer Group gave $20 million over five years to help start the initiative. ^{3 2}

In 2022, NCTR received a $6.26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education; the description included with the grant was “Centering Equity: Building and Scaling Teachers Residencies.” As of early April 2025, over $4 million of the grant had been paid out. ⁴

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation gave NCTR $227,865 in 2023, $227,865 in 2022 and $500,304 in 2020. ⁹

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation gave NCTR $369,587 in 2023, $100,000 in 2021, $570,922 in 2020, and $358,027 in 2018. ¹⁰

Leadership

Kathlene Campbell is the CEO of the National Center for Teacher Residencies. Campbell has previously worked as the dean of education at the University of St. Thomas and as a consultant at the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education. ¹¹