Blog

This past year’s dual challenges of ongoing systemic racism and COVID-19 exposed the deep inequities that exist within our schools and communities, including disparities in access to high-quality teachers prepared to teach both virtually and in-person. High-quality teacher preparation can play a critical role in dismantling these and other inequities in education. We—a group of leading Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers...
Read more >

“Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it empowers us to develop courage; to trust that courage and build bridges with it; to trust those bridges and cross over them so we can attempt to reach each other.”—Maya Angelou “We combine strategy and love to achieve our purpose.”—A Nexus mindset/belief Experiences that truly transform us are...
Read more >

“Now would be the time, especially with everything going on in this country, to recruit Black teachers into teacher preparation programs.”—Rachel Tillman, Teacher, Rochester Academy Charter School We agree, and as we highlighted in our Spotlight on Teacher Diversity blog series—districts, states and education support agencies must prioritize teacher diversity as they focus on an academic recovery that benefits all...
Read more >

President Joe Biden has nominated Dr. Miguel Cardona as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. As the leader of the Department of Education, it’s vital that Dr. Cardona commits fully to uplifting teacher professional learning practices we know will make schools more equitable places for students to learn.  Along with 28 other organizations and researchers, we ask for the opportunity...
Read more >

Guest blog by Maeghan Jones This blog first appeared as part of the We Refuse to Lose series that profiles five cradle-to-career initiatives working to close racial gaps for students journeying from early education to careers.  More than ever, we can feel the turbulence of history. This past year has changed all of our lives as we navigate a global pandemic, political...
Read more >

Guest blog by Megan Boren Last spring as the pandemic gathered force, my high school chemistry teacher, who was rounding out his 42nd year of teaching, died from COVID-19. Mr. Metcalfe was loved and honored for his teaching. His funeral was an all-day parade as cars stretched miles down the street into the high school parking lot, where community members...
Read more >

Guest blog by Brian Sevier A couple years ago, when I became Dean of the School of Education (SoE) at California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI), I kicked off my first all faculty/staff meeting with this question: If I were to ask our community stakeholders (teachers, principals, superintendents, etc.) to use one word or phrase to describe what our program...
Read more >

Guest blog by Terra Wallin This blog first appeared as part of the We Refuse to Lose series that profiles five cradle-to-career initiatives working to close racial gaps for students journeying from early education to careers.  As I watched a mob of brazen white supremacists storm the United States Capitol during a global pandemic, I feared not only for my home city...
Read more >

“Now would be the time, especially with everything going on in this country, to recruit Black teachers into teacher preparation programs.”—Rachel Tillman Up until 5th grade, Rachel Tillman had never been taught by a Black teacher. Rachel teaches 8th Grade English Language Arts at Rochester Academy Charter School. To say that experience influenced her is only part of the story....
Read more >

Guest blog by Adina Lopatin Remember being a student teacher? On any given day, my mind was filled to the brim. My mini-lesson, my handouts, timing transitions just right, remembering modifications for particular students… and where is my clipboard?! The list went on. I was so focused on my plans that I had limited cognitive capacity for listening to my...
Read more >