Staffed Up is a monthly series examining school staffing best practices and solutions for teacher recruitment and retention.
Teacher apprenticeship programs have boomed since the first one launched in Tennessee four years ago.
Every state has now established a registered teacher apprenticeship program with the U.S. Department of Labor. And 44 of those states, along with Washington, D.C., have already implemented programs to help apprentices earn a teaching degree, said Amaya Garcia, director of pre-K-12 research and practice with New America’s education policy program.
A New America report co-authored by Garcia and released this month found education to be the top occupation in the U.S. for degree-based apprenticeships. Nursing came in second.
Teacher apprenticeship programs — which train aspiring educators in the classroom while they earn a teaching credential or degree — have “really exploded” in recent years, Garcia said. When these programs began around 2022, she said, federal COVID-19 recovery funds were still available for the education sector, including to use in addressing teacher shortages.
On top of that, then-U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona “was extremely enthusiastic about teacher registered apprenticeship and was basically telling every state, ‘you should do this,’” Garcia said. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Biden administration prioritized apprenticeship grant funds toward teaching programs, she said.
It was a policy window that “people just kind of went through it because there was funds, there was momentum, and then there was a lot of technical assistance to support them too,” Garcia said.
Evidence of removing barriers
When sponsors launch teacher apprenticeship programs, they often say the initiatives are designed to remove financial barriers for prospective teachers in the community who otherwise would not have been able to earn a bachelor’s degree in education, Garcia said. Her research, she said, shows encouraging evidence that teacher apprenticeship programs haven’t given up on that goal.
For example, the report’s analysis of federal data found that 63% of teacher apprentices do not have a bachelor’s degree, but are working toward earning one. Most teacher apprentices are nontraditional students in that they're ages 25 to 54, according to the New America report.
“The fact that most folks don't have a bachelor's degree is a signal that there has been this untapped pool of individuals who are interested in becoming teachers,” Garcia said. “And so this program essentially provides support and incentives that they need to make the plunge.”
Garcia pointed to another signal that teacher apprenticeship programs are improving access to the profession: Her findings show that K-12 teacher apprentices are more racially diverse than the current teacher population. In fiscal year 2026, 19% of teacher apprentices are Hispanic compared to 9% of teachers in 2020-21. Meanwhile, 18% of teacher apprentices are Black in FY26 compared to 6% of teachers in 2020-21.
Efficacy of teacher retention efforts
In addition to New America’s report, other research has recently emerged highlighting the efficacy of teacher retention when districts hire locally, particularly as grow-your-own initiatives and apprenticeships continue to gain steam. Teacher apprenticeship programs often look to paraprofessionals, high schoolers and local community members to train into full-time teachers.
A July study, for instance, analyzed statewide teacher workforce data in Maryland and found that a teacher brought up locally and receiving nearby training was strongly more likely to stay in the same school or district. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland College Park and released by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
The research also revealed that students of teachers who had “formal” university-based training outperformed in math achievement compared to those of “young conditionally certified teachers” who are also the most likely to have grown up in the state.
“Local recruitment complements, but does not substitute for, high-quality preparation,” the study said.
Garcia called the Maryland study “exciting” because it can help the education sector better gauge the success of grow-your-own programs and bring insight to teacher apprenticeship programs.
“One thing that's really important with grow-your-own or with teacher apprenticeship are these authentic partnerships between the ed prep program and the school district,” Garcia said.
