About

If you have worked in schools at any point in the last twenty years, you have likely heard some version of these statements:

“We adopted a new curriculum, but everyone is still doing their own thing."

“Our PLCS are all about logistics - we barely talk about instruction.”

“We have a learning vision but no one talks about how we are going to get there.”

“There are too many initatives and I’m so burnt out.”

You are not alone. Balancing the daily operations of a school with a deep focus on instruction is challenging.

But what if we centered schools around the one action that matters most: student-centered teaching and learning?

At The Educators’ Residency, we roll up our sleeves and get straight to the work of instruction. Our model is built on practice before implementation. Most professional development gives educators information. Instead, we provide immersive, individualized, and iterative professional learning experiences.

  • Who Do We Support?

    The Educators’ Residency partners with schools, districts, networks, and educational organizations to design and implement learner-centered instructional initiatives that lead to meaningful and lasting change. Through comprehensive, experiential professional learning, we support educators in every role, including teachers, coaches, instructional leaders, and system-level stakeholders, to create impactful learning experiences for all students.

    We offer individual coaching, team-based support, and large-scale implementation across schools or districts. Whether you are a first-year teacher, a seasoned principal, a novice district leader, or an instructional coach, we support you by modeling the learner-centered practices you seek to cultivate, ensuring that professional learning is not only practical but transformative.

  • Where Do We Do The Work?

    We partner with a wide range of educational communities, from small rural districts to large urban systems to charter school networks. We work across the continuum from early childhood education to middle school to adult ESL programs. We also collaborate with mission-aligned organizations focused on learner-centered instruction.

    Our work happens in person and virtually, so whether embedded in your school or accessed remotely, our support is always tailored, practical, and grounded in your unique context.

Tracy Bauer, Founder and Director

Tracy brings extensive pedagogical expertise, systems-level thinking, and a human-centered approach to every partnership. She is grounded in the realities of classroom practice, unafraid to engage in the “messy” work of instructional improvement, and committed to holding multiple truths, like the belief that educators deserve joy even as they take on the serious, transformative work of teaching.

Tracy Bauer is an educator, instructional coach, and consultant with over 15 years of experience partnering with schools and districts to implement robust, learner-centered instruction. Her career spans more than a thousand classrooms across the country, from dual immersion elementary schools in California to transfer high schools in New York City. She is known for translating research into practice and fostering authentic, equitable learning experiences for all students.

A proven leader in instructional design and professional learning, Tracy has collaborated with stakeholders at every level, from teachers and school leaders to district administrators and state agencies, to build systems that directly impact instruction and improve student outcomes. She has designed, facilitated, and led a diverse number of job-embedded professional learning collaborations that challenge educators to rethink traditional paradigms, while also implementing effective instructional plans for their unique communities. She has supported multiple school communities in implementing real-world learning, competency-based pedagogy, cross-content literacy practices, multilingual learner supports, and curriculum implementation.

Tracy has played a leading role in major instructional initiatives, including contributing to the design of the nationally adopted EngageNY ELA curriculum and supporting district-wide implementation of the Odell High School Literacy Program. In New York City, she coached across a multi-year instructional network of alternative schools focused on developing rigorous and relevant learning experiences for at-promise, under-credited youth. She also launched a professional learning network for the city's 9–14 Early College and Career Schools, helping educators design performance-based assessments that bridge academic content and standards with real-world skills.

Tracy has also led regional teams and high-impact partnerships across California, Texas, the Pacific Northwest, and Kansas, earning top Net Promoter Scores for both consultation and training. She has developed district-wide coaching models, curriculum playbooks, and implementation guides, and led initiatives focused on multilingual learner instruction, culturally relevant pedagogy, and the recruitment and retention of teachers of color and Indigenous educators through high-quality mentoring programs. 

Tracy began her career in education in 2002 after earning a degree in Secondary Education from the University of Kansas. She taught English Language Arts in Boston, New York City, and Kansas City and holds a master’s degree in Secondary Education from the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars Program at Boston College. She currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her family, where she can be found dancing to ’90s hip hop cover bands or teaching community yoga.

Testimonials   

  • “Tracy did an excellent job adapting to our needs as participants. She’s very knowledgeable about Odell and the specific units within the curriculum.”

    ELA Teacher, Albuquerque Public Schools

  • “Tracy is everything we could ever want in a trainer, coach, and mentor.”

    ELA Coach, Red Clay Consolidated School District

  • "Tracy was amazing this year. She was able to easily build positive relationships with the teachers and coaches that she was working with in order to improve oracy in all district elementary classrooms."

    Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Salinas City Elementary School District

  • "Her ideas push me and others out of our comfort zones but those are the same ideas that are most needed to improve our district for our students. Her work has been valuable for us, and I look forward to every time she comes to our district!"

    District Literacy Coach, Aldine ISD