AACTE and CCSSO Partners on New Initiative to Diversify Teaching Profession
AACTE has partnered with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) on the new Diverse and Learner-Ready Teachers Initiative. The Initiative is a network of nine states that will connect with each other and experts in the field to receive individualized support as they address challenges to increase the racial diversity of the teacher workforce in their states. Participating states are Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, and New York. Through this work, these states hope to revise, enact or remove state policies that will address specific challenges for both diversifying the educator workforce and ensuring all educators are culturally responsive in practice by 2020.
“CCSSO is proud to launch the Diverse and Learner-Ready Teachers Initiative as we strive to better prepare all teachers to meet the needs of every learner in their classroom,” said Carissa Moffat Miller, executive director of CCSSO. “This work is firmly rooted in CCSSO’s commitment to providing an equitable education to all students.”
The initiative’s outcomes will be a directory of resources and services available to states related to diversifying the teacher pipeline and ensuring culturally responsive practice, a common lexicon around diverse teaching and learning for policymakers, and a published report that will serve as a resource for state teams that provide model research- and evidence-based state best practices and policies. Three task forces focused on collective action, communications and advocacy, and policy and practice will work collaboratively to advance the initiative. AACTE Director of Programs and Professional Learning Amanda Lester serves as co-chair of the collective action taskforce, and AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone serves on the communications and advocacy taskforce.
“AACTE is delighted to partner with CCSSO on this critical initiative to diversify the teacher pipeline,” said Gangone. “It is necessary for all players in the education sector to focus their efforts on creating real solutions that will increase the recruitment and retention rates of teachers of color into the profession.”
Other participating national education organizations include Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), American Institutes for Research (AIR), State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), Teachers of Tomorrow, Learning Policy Institute, National Education Association (NEA), Deans for Impact, Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, National Board, Lessoncast, National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), Teach Plus, Learning Forward, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Education Commission of the States (ECS), National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), Ed Trust, New America, Data Quality Campaign (DQC), Educational Testing Service (ETS), National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Teach for America, Center for American Progress, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). To learn more, visit www.ccsso.org.
Tags: AACTE partner organizations, diversity, equity, workforce development
