Blog

Authors: Sarah Beal (US PREP), Odette Clarke (New York City Coalition for Teacher Preparation), Cassandra Herring (BranchED), Chris Lozier (NCTR), Robby McGowen (IC4EP), and Calvin Stocker (US PREP) To improve educational outcomes for Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty, we know we need outstanding teachers in every classroom. And high-quality teacher preparation is critical to ensuring new educators...
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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.  A funder once asked me what it was like growing up in Tacoma, Washington. Reflecting on the 1980s and 1990s, I told him it was fraught with drugs and...
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For our fourth and final installation in our Spotlight on Teacher Diversity blog series, we sat down with Jason Terrell, Founder and Executive Director of Profound Gentlemen and Cheryl Thompson, the Director of Education Grantmaking at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Profound Gentlemen is a non-profit organization that engages current and aspiring male educators of color by placing...
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This content also appeared on the We Refuse To Lose website.  Like many young boys of color, I faced obstacles as I matriculated through schools. I am Black and an immigrant and was subjected to all the biases and discrimination that are rampant across our communities. I was an English language learner and was put in the basement of my...
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In my first two posts, I described how we at Jackson State University (JSU) transformed our clinical practice and our course curriculum to strengthen our teacher candidate’s experiences so they are ready on day one to successfully teach all students, especially Black, Latinx and students experiencing poverty. In this post, I’ll share how the process of collecting, analyzing and using...
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When I was growing up in a small town in New Jersey, I didn’t have a single teacher of color. As a white student, I missed out on seeing the world from more diverse perspectives, which would have enriched my education and understanding of different cultural realities. Furthermore, seeing people of color as teachers and role models in my school...
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Tackling curriculum in a teacher preparation program is complicated work. At Jackson State, we have three pathways and 18 teaching faculty members across multiple course offerings in the junior and senior course sequence run by the college of education. But we knew that if we wanted to truly transform the experience and eventual effectiveness of our teacher candidates, overhauling the...
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The topic: do the ends justify the means? The assignment: now that we’ve talked about this question, and why characters in our story have made the choices they did, do you agree? Kevin is frozen in a panic, his mind has gone blank and he can’t find a place to start. Shatira puts her hand down slowly; she didn’t have...
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Back in 2015, a group of department chairs, administrative leadership, program directors and faculty at Jackson State University formed a task force to write a plan for transforming our teacher preparation program. In that plan, we identified areas of strength and areas we needed to improve. We wanted to build on the deep experience and wisdom of faculty, while taking...
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As we gear up to begin a new school year, we cannot help but hear the many voices involved in the process of opening our schools. With decisions being made by politicians, education state officials, health officials, and district and school administrators,  it is no wonder that teachers and families whose voices are usually not represented are confused and angry....
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