EdPrep Partners Quarterly Update - Fall 2025
EdPrep Partners Quarterly Update
Fall 2025 | Preparation Moves Forward. With Purpose.
The Momentum of Readiness
Across the nation, teacher preparation is gaining measurable traction. State leaders are investing not just in recruitment but in readiness itself, expanding quality pathways and making them more accessible, strengthening literacy and mathematics preparation, and aligning programs to the expectations of today’s classrooms and to the standards that have guided the field for decades. The message is consistent and aligned to what we’ve known for decades: the quality of candidate preparation determines the quality of learning for P-12 students.
Arizona, Florida, and Wisconsin have enacted major literacy laws that require every preparation program to teach evidence based reading instruction aligned to the science of reading. Maine and Massachusetts are embedding the science of reading and mathematics into teacher education statewide. Colorado and Tennessee have scaled apprenticeship and residency models that allow candidates to learn in classrooms while earning full credentials.
Large states are leading as well. California dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars in its 2025 budget to student teacher stipends and residency grants, ensuring candidates can complete full time clinical training without financial hardship. Texas passed House Bill 2, creating new formula funding for quality pathways, mentors, and preparation. Michigan continued its statewide investment in workforce development, while Delaware advanced a comprehensive agenda linking literacy, strategic staffing, and pedagogical performance measures.
From small rural states to large urban systems, these efforts reflect a national shift, from isolated reform to focused implementation. States are raising expectations for preparation, investing in teacher educators, and creating the conditions for sustainable improvement.
At EdPrep Partners, we are proud to help translate this momentum into daily practice. Our work alongside states, educator preparation programs, and P-12 districts is rooted in a shared belief: when preparation is rigorous, practice based, and aligned to what teachers will actually teach, candidates enter classrooms ready to make an immediate and long-term impact on P-12 learning.
Let’s keep the momentum going. Let’s make teacher preparation better together.
Calvin J. Stocker
Founder & CEO, EdPrep Partners
Beyond Access: Preparation That Builds Readiness with HQIM on Day One
Districts and states continue to invest in high quality instructional materials (HQIM) because the research is clear: when used well, these materials accelerate P-12 student learning and help teachers focus on what matters most - quality instruction & student learning. Yet for too many teacher candidates, their first encounter with HQIM happens only after they begin teaching as a teacher of record.
EdPrep Partners’ Beyond Access series calls on educator preparation programs to make HQIM readiness a central outcome of teacher preparation. The five part EdPrep Insights series invites programs to design coursework, clinical experiences, and faculty practice around the materials that define effective instruction in today’s classrooms, ensuring every candidate graduates proficient in the tools their P-12 districts and school use with students to accelerate learning.
The message is simple and urgent: preparation must mirror practice. Readiness grows when candidates learn to identify, internalize, adapt, and facilitate instruction using HQIM that reflects the materials adopted by their partner districts. Through clear examples and practical guidance, the series illustrates what strong HQIM integration looks like, first for candidates, then for teacher educators, and ultimately for programs as a whole.
Together, these installments help the field move beyond access to instructional materials toward ensuring that every new teacher can use them skillfully to advance P-12 student learning.
Visit the full series at
www.edpreppartners.org/beyond-access and follow
EdPrep Partners on LinkedIn for upcoming EdPrep Insights and ‘Beyond Access’ releases.
What’s Ahead: Strengthening Preparation Through State-Led Commitments
Delaware Department of Education
In partnership with the Delaware Department of Education, EdPrep Partners is collaborating with a network of strategic partners and stakeholders to lead a comprehensive, multi-year effort to strengthen educator preparation across the state. Through four connected projects, EdPrep Partners will: (1) conduct literacy reviews aligned to Delaware’s Science of Reading goals and support related program improvements; (2) partner with teacher educators and P-12 school leaders to expand strategic staffing models and fellowships that scale high quality, year long teacher residencies; (3) design a technology platform to streamline Delaware’s program modification and addition application process; and (4) assist educator preparation programs in implementing pedagogical performance measures that reflect the state’s standards for P-12 teaching and candidate performance.
This work reflects our belief that stronger preparation produces stronger outcomes for candidates and for P-12 students, and that state education agencies can be the most powerful catalysts in making that vision a reality.
From the Field: What’s Working and Why It Matters
Across the field, bold and grounded work continues to move preparation forward. Recent contributions from national leaders and institutions are part of a growing body of efforts that highlight the practical shifts, leadership priorities, and instructional models driving meaningful progress. Together, they reflect a shared commitment to deepening candidate development, raising expectations for teacher educators, and building systems that deliver lasting results for teacher candidates and P-12 students.
From Educational Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC) at UNC Chapel Hill
The Education Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC) has produced a powerful three part research series examining North Carolina’s Science of Reading professional development initiative, LETRS. Together, these briefs offer valuable insight into what it takes to strengthen literacy preparation and classroom practice across a statewide system.
Brief 1 - The Foundation for Implementation
The first brief established the foundation for North Carolina’s statewide rollout of LETRS, documenting early implementation and system-level coordination. EPIC found strong participation among districts and teachers, along with broad recognition of the value of Science of Reading training. The study emphasized that lasting improvement requires more than individual effort. Rather, it depends on coherent systems that align preparation programs, professional learning, and classroom expectations around shared standards for effective reading instruction.
Brief 2 - Teacher Perceptions and the Conditions for Change
The second brief captured teacher perspectives on implementation. Educators overwhelmingly valued the rigor and relevance of the Science of Reading content, yet many cited the need for more time, collaboration, and guided practice to apply what they were learning. The study showed that time to internalize and practice new strategies is not simply a logistical consideration - it is essential to sustained instructional change and improved student outcomes.
Brief 3 - From Learning to Implementation
The third brief examined how professional learning translated into classroom instruction. EPIC found that seventy three percent of observed lessons were rated high quality, and most teachers demonstrated strong understanding of Science of Reading aligned practices. However, instruction in vocabulary and comprehension lagged behind phonics and foundational reading skills, and some outdated strategies persisted. EPIC’s team recommended ongoing coaching, differentiated supports, and continued professional learning to help teachers refine and deepen their practice. A core recommendation includes allocating funding for instructional coaches to support teachers in translating LETRS knowledge into daily classroom instruction. A powerful reminder that professional development without follow-up support is critical for change to take place, which is noted in by the participants and in the researchers’ data.
Why It Matters
Across all three briefs, EPIC’s work reinforces an essential message: knowledge alone does not create readiness. Effective preparation - whether for teacher candidates or in-service educators - requires structured time, applied practice, and sustained support. The READS series offers a roadmap for how statewide initiatives can move beyond awareness toward real readiness for teachers and the students they serve.
From Dean’s for Impact
Deans for Impact’s
Pathways That Deliver framework offers a clear vision for how states and programs can build affordable, high quality routes into teaching that are instructionally focused, practice based, and grounded in how students learn. The framework highlights emerging models where preparation programs and P-12 schools align coursework and clinical practice around shared expectations for effective teaching. The takeaway is straightforward and aligned with EdPrep Partners’ approach as well: when pathways provide meaningful practice and remove barriers to access, every candidate can enter the classroom ready to teach with skill and confidence.
Download the Framework
From the Charles Butt Foundation
The 2025 Texas Teacher Poll from the Charles Butt Foundation captures a pivotal shift in teacher perceptions and preparation across the state. Encouragingly, the percentage of teachers considering leaving the profession dropped from 78 percent in 2024 to 66 percent in 2025, signaling gradual improvement in morale and retention. Yet, fewer than half of teachers report feeling prepared for their first year in the classroom.
Teachers called for more time in real classrooms, paid and extended student teaching, stronger mentoring, and deeper preparation in managing diverse student needs. Seventy five percent reported that most of their students began the year below grade level, underscoring the importance of preparation that equips teachers to close learning gaps from the start.
While challenges remain, the poll highlights clear priorities from teachers themselves: focus on readiness, strengthen preparation, and invest in systems that equip new educators to meet the realities of today’s classrooms with confidence and skill.
Visit the 2025 Texas Teacher Poll Website
EdPrep Insights: What You May Have Missed
Our EdPrep Insights series continues to surface the most urgent challenges in teacher preparation and highlight research-aligned, practical strategies for improvement. Each brief reflects EdPrep Partners’ technical assistance approach and connects directly to our Performance Framework and 14 Levers for Quality Teacher Preparation. If you missed the latest installments, here are a few to explore:
From Data Collection to Daily Practice: How Strong Data Routines Improve Teacher Preparation
Effective data use depends on discipline, not volume. This Insight shows how educator preparation programs can build recurring, high quality data routines that strengthen faculty practice, accelerate candidate growth, and connect evidence directly to improvement in real time.
But Who Develops the Mentors: Why Faculty Development Is the Foundation of Teacher Preparation
Strong mentoring begins with strong teacher educators. This Insight explores how programs that invest in faculty and supervisors build the modeling, calibration, and coaching practices that make high quality mentoring possible for candidates and the P–12 students they teach.
The Coaching Gap: Moving From Chance to Design
Too often, coaching in teacher preparation varies by who delivers it rather than by what candidates need most. This Insight highlights how structured coaching cycles, shared rubrics, and developmental trajectories help programs move from coaching by chance to coaching by design.
The Prioritization Imperative: How Programs Make Change Stick
Real improvement depends on focus. This Insight examines how programs that limit priorities, track progress with precision, and align leadership routines to what matters most sustain change and build a culture of continuous improvement.
Beyond Access: Preparation that Builds Candidate Readiness with HQIM on Day One
This five part series calls on educator preparation programs to make HQIM readiness a central outcome of preparation. It examines what readiness looks like for candidates, teacher educators, and programs, showing how aligning coursework, clinical experiences, and faculty practice to the curricula teachers actually use can close one of preparation’s most persistent gaps.
Our Growing Team: Advancing a Shared Mission
Now Hiring: Program Impact Manager
As our work expands across states and educator preparation programs, EdPrep Partners is growing our team. We are currently seeking a Program Impact Manager, a full-time remote role that plays a central part in helping our partners move from knowing what to improve to knowing how to improve - and doing it alongside them. The Program Impact Manager will:
- Lead implementation of EdPrep Partners’ Program Performance Review and Technical Assistance approaches
- Support educator preparation programs and state partners to achieve measurable and lasting improvement in teacher preparation quality
- Collaborate with program leaders, faculty, clinical supervisors, and P-12 partners to strengthen teacher educator practice, data use, and systems for improving both preparation and candidate instruction
We invite you to share this opportunity within your networks or with anyone who might be a great fit to join our team.
Stay Connected
If you're interested in learning more, exploring collaboration or technical assistance, or just want to catch up, we’d love to connect:
About EdPrep Partners
Elevating Teacher Preparation. Accelerating Change.
EdPrep Partners is a national technical assistance center and non-profit. EdPrep Partners delivers a coordinated, high-impact, hands-on technical assistance model that connects diagnostics with the support to make the changes. Our approach moves beyond surface-level recommendations, embedding research-backed, scalable, and sustainable practices that most dramatically improve the quality of educator preparation—while equipping educator preparation programs, districts, state agencies, and funders with the tools and insights needed to drive systemic, lasting change.
