by Mia O'Suji
The subject of high-quality teacher preparation pathways has gleaned nationwide attention as stakeholders across the field of education seek to codify innovative approaches to transform the ways in which teacher candidates are trained and developed prior to entering the classroom.
Center for Transforming Alternative Preparation Pathways (CTAPP) at Dallas College has had the esteem pleasure of working alongside leading Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers (TPTCs) from across the country in a community of practice (CoP). The TPTC CoP meets monthly to develop tools and resources, grounded in research, to assist teacher preparation programs in providing equitable access to high-quality teacher preparation pathways.
To achieve a shared vision of sustainable, quality teacher preparation programming that is scaled to impact Black, Latino, and low-income students from historically marginalized PK-12 school systems, the TPTCs work together to implement the outcomes outlined in Teacher Preparation Outcomes and Indicators (TPP O&Is). The TPP O&Is provide a framework for achieving high-quality teacher preparation under the domains of quality, sustainability, scale, and impact. Additionally, the TPP O&Is emphasize a critical lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion to promote anti-racist systems, practices, and tools within teacher preparation programs.
Research shows that students within high-poverty areas are more likely to be assigned a first-year teacher, making the urgency around teacher preparation and new teachers’ ability to effectively engage within low-income communities more important than ever before (Brenda Iasevoli, Education Week).
To support programs in addressing this need, CTAPP worked alongside education leaders within the TPTC CoP to develop the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Companion Document.
The DEI Companion Document is a guide that accompanies teacher preparation program’s implementation of the TPP O&Is. It acknowledges the systemic inequities that exist within education and uses a critical lens to unpack implicit and explicit biases in mindsets, practices, and tools that are used to prepare teacher candidates. This guide is broken into the four corresponding domains offered by the TPP O&Is and is organized to provide example actions, guiding questions, and helpful resources.
CTAPP is extending this resource to assist EPPs with engaging in ongoing reflections and discussions on how teacher preparation programming can promote DEI and anti-racist principles and pedagogy.
To learn more about the Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers community of practice, please read the blog series offered by Education First.
Mia O'Suji serves as the Director of Content Development and Programming at CTAPP. She leads organizational efforts related to teacher preparation programming and strategic project planning.