Scaling Duke TeachHouse: Innovating Public Education (2026-2027)

Background

Across North Carolina, schools continue to face growing challenges related to teacher stress, burnout and early-career attrition. Many new educators report feeling isolated and unsupported, especially in high-need schools. These pressures have made it increasingly difficult for districts to retain talented early-career teachers.

Since 2015, Duke TeachHouse has addressed these challenges through an innovative residential model that brings early-career educators together to live, learn and lead in community. TeachHouse Fellows receive coaching, participate in professional learning, engage in policy and community dialogues and support one another in navigating the demands of the classroom. The program removes some of the financial and professional barriers that often prevent teachers from thriving during their first years in the field.

Building on nearly a decade of success, TeachHouse is now piloting a non-residential model to extend access to Durham educators who cannot participate in the residential cohort. Understanding how this expansion supports teacher wellbeing, belonging and professional growth will be essential to designing scalable and equitable strategies for teacher retention across the state.

Project Description

This project team will partner with TeachHouse to study the launch of the non-residential model through a mixed-methods, participatory research design grounded in improvement science.

Team members — including faculty, TeachHouse staff, research partners from the Center for Child and Family Policy and the Social Science Research Institute, and students from across disciplines — will study how non-residential Fellows experience community, professional learning and wellbeing.

Students will participate in:

• Interviews and focus groups with approximately 30 non-residential Fellows
• Qualitative and quantitative surveys examining shifts in wellbeing, belonging and leadership
• Observations of professional learning sessions, TeachHouse programming and community events
• School visits to contextualize teacher experiences
• Collaborative analysis workshops that integrate psychology, sociology, policy and education perspectives

Students will co-design interview and survey instruments, conduct interviews in pairs and engage in thematic coding and descriptive and inferential analyses. Weekly research meetings will include training in qualitative methods, ethics, reflexivity and policy translation.

The team will produce findings that inform ongoing improvement of the non-residential model and contribute to broader research on teacher support and workforce development in North Carolina.

Anticipated Outputs

• Formative evaluation report with findings and recommendations for the non-residential model
• Cleaned and organized data sets (interview transcripts, surveys, observation notes)
• Executive summary and presentation for TeachHouse leadership, district partners and community stakeholders
• Co-authored student blog post or digital story translating key findings for a public audience
• Conference poster, proposal or manuscript developed with students
• End-of-Year event cohosted by students for TeachHouse and partner organizations

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this project team will include 2-3 graduate students and 7-8 undergraduate students from education, public policy, psychology, sociology, global health and related fields.

Undergraduate students will:

• Learn qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Co-design interview and survey instruments
• Conduct interviews and focus groups
• Analyze data and create visual summaries
• Develop policy- and practice-oriented communications
• Present findings to TeachHouse stakeholders

Graduate students will:

• Mentor undergraduate researchers
• Support IRB procedures, data analysis and dissemination
• Help develop conference proposals and manuscripts
• Model ethical and rigorous educational research practices

The team will meet weekly and operate as a single collaborative research group, with opportunities for school visits and participation in TeachHouse events.

Timing

Fall 2026 – Spring 2027

Fall 2026:

• Literature review on teacher wellbeing and leadership
• Training in qualitative methods and instrument design
• Development and piloting of interview and survey tools
• Initial interviews with Durham Public Schools teachers

Spring 2027:

• Continued interviews, focus groups and data collection
• Ongoing qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Facilitation of TeachHouse community events
• Synthesis of findings and preparation of evaluation deliverables
• End-of-Year event with TeachHouse stakeholders

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters