The Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), in partnership with the Aspen Institute and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), has been investigating the urban teacher residency (UTR) -- an innovative response to the longstanding challenges of how to recruit, prepare, and retain bright and capable teachers for high-needs urban schools. Chicago's Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) and the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) Program are two of the nation's most promising UTRs. In some respects UTRs represent a "third way" -- addressing the weaknesses as well as incorporating the best of both traditional and alternative approaches to teacher education and certification. In brief, UTRs recruit teaching talent aggressively, with the supply and demand needs of local districts in mind. They also insist on extensive preparation, whereby recruits are paid a stipend while learning to teach in a full-year residency, under the watchful eye of expert K-12 teachers. Because the Residents are not fully responsible for teaching children, they have more quality time to take relevant pedagogical coursework "wrapped around" their intense student teaching experience. While both AUSL and BTR are relatively new programs, early studies on their graduates' effectiveness and their high retention rates of 90 to 95 percent suggest these models hold great promise for preparing and supporting teachers in high-needs urban schools. This analysis has pointed to the importance of taking very different approaches to recruitment, selection, preparation, and induction of new teachers; recognizing the need for advanced professional development that prepares experienced teachers for new roles as teacher leaders; creating different structures in schools for enhanced support and teacher collaboration, with profound implications for teachers' roles, compensation, and daily schedules. By design, UTRs have the potential -- and perhaps the necessity -- for long-term success to point the way not just to another pathway for teacher certification, but a comprehensive teaching development system. Appended are: (1) Defining Principles of Urban Teacher Residencies; (2) Key Elements and Components of the BTR and AUSL Programs; and (3) Portrait of a Young Teacher in an "Inner City" Public School by Ariel Sacks. (Contains 20 endnotes.)