AACTE Diversified Teacher Workforce TAG Hosts Building Culturally Efficacious University-School Partnerships Learning Lab
Join the AACTE Diversified Teacher Workforce Topical Action Group (TAG) Learning Lab on Building Culturally Efficacious University-School Partnerships on Tuesday April 2O, 1:00 -2:30 p.m. (CST) via the Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8406529033
Across the field of education (PK-20) students, teachers, administrators, professors, and program leaders continue to witness and lament the chronic disparities in representation and lack of ethno-racial and linguistic diversity among teachers (relative to their students) in our nation’s schools. And in the wake of a global pandemic, enduring civil unrest, and calls for racial justice related to systemic anti-Blackness and anti-immigrant within all aspects of society, educational institutions are being forced to engage in introspection with greater magnitude. Teacher preparation programs in particular are feeling increased pressure to recruit, retain, and effectively prepare a highly-qualified, racially-literate, diverse pool of candidates as districts scramble to hire teachers with the content knowledge and pedagogical skills as well as the cultural and linguistic competencies needed to meet the needs of their increasingly diverse student populations.
Systemic gains in teacher diversification and overall teacher quality necessitate, now more than ever, critical reflection and comprehensive reform of policies and practices at myriad points along teacher preparation pathways. One often overlooked but critical arena that is often in need of reform and yet has great potential) for improving outcomes in teacher preparation and teacher diversification is innovative, cross-institutional partnerships.
As part of the Diversified Teacher Workforce Learning Lab Series, this session will highlight one such partnership program that has established success on multiple levels. Leaders from the educator preparation program (EPP) within the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will share insights regarding their long-standing collaborative partnership with San Antonio ISD, which has led to a highly-successful Bilingual Residency Program and a Grow-Your-Own-Teacher Residency Program.
Also in collaboration with USPREP and Raise Your Hand Texas, these programs utilize EPP’s yearlong clinical teaching (YLCT) model to place clinical teachers within high-needs schools in San Antonio area school districts. As a Hispanic Serving Institution, it is imperative to UTSA EPP leaders that they remain committed to teaching and learning that is grounded in practice-based education. This means providing authentic opportunities for clinical teachers to develop, practice, and demonstrate competencies in both content knowledge and pedagogical skills that promote equitable learning for all students, especially historically underserved students within the region.
Join us on Tuesday, April 20 to learn more about how UTSA’s EPP bridges theory to practice and the University to the community through these exciting partnerships. Furthermore, connect with others to discuss how you might foster stronger district partnership relationships within your institutions.
Tags: diversity, events, school-university partnerships, workforce development
