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Across the country, school leaders are navigating one of the most persistent challenges in education today: retaining talented, mission-driven educators. While much of the conversation centers on compensation, workload, and policy, one of the most underutilized and high-impact resources sits right beside our schools…our university partners.

Institutions like Marymount University, Boston College, and St. John’s University are not only preparing future educators, they are increasingly listening, adapting, and responding to the real-time needs of school leaders and teachers. When leveraged intentionally, these partnerships can become a cornerstone strategy in addressing the teacher retention challenge.

At their best, university-school partnerships move beyond transactional relationships and become transformational. They create shared responsibility for developing, supporting, and sustaining educators across the full arc of their careers.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Educational leaders can take intentional steps to deepen these partnerships in ways that directly impact teacher retention:

Enhancing School-Based Opportunities Through Strategic Partnership

Professional learning is most effective when it is grounded in the context of the school and led by those closest to the work. I find there is value in leaning on university partners as thought partners. These relationships bring research, frameworks, and support that strengthen intentionally designed opportunities (Desimone & Garet, 2015).

Creating Leadership Pathways

Retention is closely tied to growth. Universities can partner with school systems to build leadership pipelines, offering graduate programs, certifications, and cohort models that empower teachers to see a future within the profession. When educators can envision their next step, they are more likely to stay (Ingersoll et al., 2018).

Embedding Research into Practice

Strong partnerships allow schools to serve as living laboratories where research informs practice and practice refines research. Whether through action research, dissertation collaboration, or pilot programs, teachers feel valued when their experiences contribute to broader learning and improvement (Coburn & Penuel, 2016).

Expanding the Teacher Pipeline with Purpose

Through intentional clinical experiences, residency models, and targeted recruitment efforts, universities can help schools attract candidates who are not only qualified but mission-aligned. This alignment is essential across all educational governance models, where purpose plays a central role in retention (Guha et al., 2016).

Supporting Educator Well-Being and Belonging

Teachers stay where they feel seen, supported, and connected. Universities can contribute by integrating social-emotional learning, reflective practice, and community-building strategies into both pre-service and in-service programming. Research consistently shows that school culture, trust, and collective efficacy are key drivers of teacher retention (Kraft et al., 2016). I am very passionate about this topic and my research highlights the central role of school climate, leadership, and relational trust in shaping teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession (Ball, 2023).

The most impactful university partnerships are grounded in a shared belief: that supporting teachers is not the responsibility of one institution, but a collective commitment.

When school systems and universities work together with intention, we begin to see action to impact. Professional learning becomes more meaningful, leadership becomes more distributed, and culture becomes more supportive. Most importantly, teachers begin to experience what so many are seeking: a sense of purpose, growth, and belonging within their schools.

For educational leaders, the invitation is clear: lean into these partnerships. Invite universities to the table not just as providers, but as collaborators. Share your challenges openly, co-create solutions, and build meaningful and impactful frameworks not one-time supports.

When we strengthen the bridge between universities and schools, we are not just preparing teachers, we are sustaining them.

At the heart of this work is a simple but powerful truth…we can do more for our teachers when we do it together. The challenges facing education today call us to think beyond traditional structures and lean into the strength of collective impact. By partnering with universities and trusted vendor partners, we open the door to innovative, responsive solutions that better meet the needs of our educators. More importantly, these partnerships allow us to visibly and authentically demonstrate our gratitude for teachers, thankful for their dedication, their resilience, and their daily commitment to shaping the lives of the students entrusted to their care.

When educators feel supported not just by their school, but by a broader community working on their behalf, we move closer to building the kind of sustainable, mission-driven environments where teachers choose to stay and thrive.

References 

Ball, D. M. (2023). Improving teacher retention within Archdiocese of Washington schools (Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5006  

Coburn, C. E., & Penuel, W. R. (2016). Research–practice partnerships in education: Outcomes, dynamics, and open questions. Educational Researcher, 45(1), 48–54. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16631750

Desimone, L. M., & Garet, M. S. (2015). Best practices in teachers’ professional development in the United States. Psychology, Society, & Education, 7(3), 252–263. https://doi.org/10.25115/psye.v7i3.515

Guha, R., Hyler, M. E., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). The teacher residency: An innovative model for preparing teachers. Learning Policy Institute.

Ingersoll, R. M., Merrill, L., Stuckey, D., & Collins, G. (2018). Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force. Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

Ingersoll, R. M., & Strong, M. (2011). The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: A critical review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 201–233. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465431140