High-quality teacher preparation can play a critical role in dismantling inequities in education, such as disparities in student achievement and access to high-quality education, which often exist and persist along racial and ethnic lines. Black and Latinx students and students experiencing poverty – like Indigenous, Asian and other students of color – are more likely than white students and students of higher income to be taught by a new teacher, and are also more likely to experience less effective teachers. However, it does not have to be this way – new teachers can be better prepared to have an immediate positive impact on student achievement.
The Teacher Preparation Transformation Initiative supports seven leading Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers (Centers) in a community of practice (CoP). These Centers are working together to transform the way teachers are prepared. They have created Teacher Preparation Outcomes and Indicators within a framework that describes the outcomes teacher preparation programs must seek.
Now, the group has created a DEI Companion Document as a guide for Centers and teacher preparation programs who are seeking to engage more deeply in diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism, specifically in relation to their implementation of the Teacher Preparation Outcomes and Indicators. For each set of outcomes, the guide offers example actions to apply an explicit DEI lens, as well as DEI guiding questions.
To access the document, see: https://education-first.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DEI-Companion-Document.pdf
