Former Nashville Teacher Residency Executive Director Joins NCTR
NCTR is very excited to welcome Dr. Randall Lahann, former Executive Director of the Nashville Teacher Residency (NTR) to the staff. Randall is joining NCTR as a Special Advisor.
"I am excited to share what I have learned during my time as Executive Director of NTR with the staff at NCTR. NCTR is engaged in a lot of very exciting, innovative work and I am looking forward to working with the team" said Dr. Lahann about joining the staff. "Randall is ideally positioned to provide us with advice and guidance on how to be even more responsive to the needs of the residencies we serve" said NCTR CEO, Anissa Listak.
As Special Advisor, Randall will be supporting programs across NCTR's Network of partner residencies and providing policy and advocacy in support of NCTR's mission and vision. Before founding NTR, he was the Director of Curriculum for the Match Teacher Residency in Boston. Randall completed his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at Boston College, where he taught classes in Special Education and teacher inquiry. Randall began his career in education in 2000 in San Jose, California as a Teach For America Special Education teacher.
Please join NCTR in welcoming Dr. Lahann to the team!
Resources and Connections
States Have Started to Submit their ESSER Implementation Plans
ARP ESSER State Plan Applications were due on June 7, 2021. The plans will be posted in the ARP ESSER State Plan table as they are received. Approved State materials will be posted following review and approval by the U.S. Department of Education. You can access those plans here.
Update on President Biden’s Commitment to Teacher Residencies
Details about the Biden Administration’s plan to invest in teacher residencies and Grow Your Own Programs have been released. You can read Secretary Cardona’s testimony to the appropriations committeehere.
The Title I Equity Grants proposal is just one demonstration of President Biden's strong commitment to teachers. Other key investments, split between discretionary and mandatory American Families Plan funding, include $412 million ($132 million in discretionary funding and an additional $280 in mandatory authority for fiscal year 2022) for Teacher Quality Partnerships to address teaching shortages, improve training and supports for teachers, and boost teacher diversity, particularly through investment in teacher residencies and Grow Your Own programs; $340 million ($250 million in discretionary funding and an additional $90 million in mandatory authority for fiscal year 2022) for Special Education Personnel Preparation to ensure that there are adequate numbers of personnel with the skills and knowledge necessary to help children with disabilities succeed educationally; and $60 million ($20 million in discretionary funding and an additional $40 in mandatory authority for fiscal year 2022) to fund for the first time the Hawkins Centers of Excellence program designed to increase the quality and number of new teachers of color. In addition, the American Families Plan would make a one-time mandatory investment of $1.6 billion to support additional certifications at no cost for more than 100,000 educators in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, career and technical education, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We are also requesting, through the American Families Plan, $200 million in mandatory authority for a new Expanding Opportunities for Teacher Leadership and Development program to support opportunities for experienced and effective teachers to lead and have a greater impact on their school community while remaining in the classroom (and be compensated for additional responsibilities) through such activities as high-quality teacher mentorship programs and job-embedded coaching. Lastly, the American Families Plan would double TEACH Grants from $4,000 to $8,000 for future teachers while earning their degrees.
Americorps Announces Plans for Using ARP Funding
AmeriCorps has announced how they will use their Rescue Plan funding. AmeriCorps State and National addresses community needs through a variety of mechanisms, including direct service grants, capacity building grants, and partnerships with Governor-appointed state commissions, US territories, and tribal governments. The state commissions will be able to offer new grant opportunities over the next three years and states will have flexibility on how to spend the funding. The living allowance for members will also be increased. Below is additional information about the use of ARP funding.
Under the American Rescue Plan, the living allowance for AmeriCorps State and National members will increase.
Governor-appointed state service commissions will receive an increase in AmeriCorps formula funding over three years, giving states additional flexibility and resources to increase living allowances, stabilize their state AmeriCorps programs, and expand AmeriCorps opportunities.
Current grantees will have increased access to “match replacement” funds, which cover the grantees’ portion of the obligation they are unable to fulfill due to the pandemic. This reduces the burden on nonprofit, tribal and community-based organizations, in order to implement AmeriCorps programs.
AmeriCorps State and National will introduce a place-based planning grant opportunity to community-based organizations that are strategically aligned to local government priorities. Communities will be asked to collaborate with community leaders to plan and apply for AmeriCorps funding.
Governor-appointed state service commissions will receive additional administrative dollars to support a growing portfolio of programs.
The Volunteer Generation Fund will receive additional funding to develop innovative approaches to expand volunteering, increase diversity in volunteer organizations, and strengthen the capacity of volunteer organizations to recruit and retain skill-based volunteers.
EdReports Releases Culturally Centered Education: A Primer
Efforts to make student experiences more reflective of diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic groups have been around for decades. And our nation’s ongoing reckoning with racial injustice has created a sense of urgency to ensure learning environments provide grade-level and culturally centered experiences for all students.
To better support educators in their pursuit of these efforts, EdReports worked with Education First to create a primer that:
1. Defines key terms pertaining to culturally-based education;
2. Explains the implications these terms have for curriculum and instructional materials; and
3. Assesses the state of the culturally-based education field.
Student Achievement Partners is Offering Free Professional Learning
Fresh new ideas can help you recharge, get inspired, and restock your educator toolkit. These free professional learning opportunities will leave you excited to try innovative, student-centered approaches in the classroom armed with the skills, knowledge, and materials you need for success.
On-Demand Webinar Collection-- Our collection of more than 75 on-demand webinars and Coffee & Conversations seminars covers all grade-levels and a wide variety of topics related to ELA and math instruction, student identity and belonging, and more. Looking for deeper learning? Our extended learning collection offers multi-part, interactive opportunities. You can register here.
Disrupting the Canon Online Course-- This four-part course will help educators understand the impact of diversifying text selection, reflect on existing curricular resources with a critical lens, and develop techniques--such as strategic pairing of texts, intentional replacing, and developing counter-narratives--to center BIPOC authors. This course can be completed at your own pace and offers up to 9.5 hours of professional learning credit. You can register here.
Job Opportunities
Dallas College is Hiring an Associate Dean of Educator Certification
Since 1965, Dallas College, formerly known as the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) has served more than three (3) million students. It is one of the largest community college systems in the state of Texas, which includes seven campus locations around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Dallas College is uniquely positioned to provide a robust portfolio of pathways into the teaching profession through the recently-created School of Education. Dallas College is the sole institution of higher education that operates high school dual credit pathways in the region. Dallas College recently became the first community college in Texas to receive approval to offer a bachelor’s in education and Dallas College also offers an alternative certification pathway to teaching.
Dallas College seeks a dynamic leader to play an important role in the development and implementation of thoughtful work-based learning opportunities and practice with PK-12 students throughout our education portfolio. This role will be responsible for:
Ensuring work-based learning opportunities and practice with PK-12 students are deeply embedded in each pathway;
Identifying and training school-based Mentors;
Providing training to faculty; and
Ensuring quality of work-based and practice opportunities through the identification and collection of key success metrics, and by supporting interactions with school system partners and faculty to support the continuous improvement of these work- and practice-based experiences
The ideal candidate will have deep knowledge of PK-6 student standards and the high-quality curricular materials being used in Texas; experience training and coaching novice teachers and Mentor teachers; and the ability to strategically translate this knowledge and experience into the development and implementation of a cohesive and high-quality series of practice and work-based experiences for Dallas College students. You can access the posting here.
Menlo Park City School District is Hiring for Several Roles
Current or anticipated openings include Spanish Teacher, K-5 Teacher, Budget Analyst, and Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Other positions become available throughout the summer. Please refer all interested applicants to the EdJoin websitewhere MPCSD’s jobs are posted.
In the News
Four Ways to Get More Black and Latino Teachers in K12 Public Schools
This data reflects earlier research on Black and Latino teachers and the positive social and emotional experiences they create for their students.
Education historian Vanessa Siddle Walker writes about how, even before the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision in 1954, Black teachers and principals provided their students with tools and a framework to navigate a society that was anti-Black. And renowned education researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings explains Black teachers’ capacity to draw on their own experiences as Black people in the U.S. and incorporate their Black students’ cultural experiences into the classroom.
Given the added value of teachers of color, a pressing problem remains: There is a considerable demographic mismatch between teachers and students of color in the U.S. While teachers of color represent 21% of public school educators, students of color account for more than 52% of public school students.
As an education researcher, I study the experiences of teachers of color. Here are four ways to get more teachers from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds in K-12 classrooms.
The story now is one of retention. Teachers of color leave the profession and move to other schools at a higher rate than their white peers. An analysis of nine school districts found that Black teachers in particular have higher turnover rates than their white and Latino peers. For example, the number of Black teachers in Chicago Public Schools decreased by 39% between 2002 and 2011, compared to a 3% decrease in white teachers and a 6% increase in Latino teachers during the same period.
2. Improve leadership, work conditions
Historically, researchers believed that teachers in urban schools that predominantly serve children of color left their schools because they did not want to work with those students. But teachers don’t leave their students; teachers leave their principals.
Principals create the working conditions that lead to turnover by not supporting teachers or providing the resources they need to work with their students. To ensure that principals instead create conditions that help teachers of color thrive, they need high-quality preparation. This preparation should include a focus on how to support new teachers as well as work collegially with students, caregivers and teachers. Model programs that continue to do this work are The Leadership Academy and the Principal Leadership Institute at University of California, Berkeley.
3. Fund schools equitably
To retain teachers of color, districts have to improve the working conditions in their schools. One way to do this is to fund schools more equitably. Some states, like California, have a more progressive, equitable funding formula. That means schools that have a significant number of students who are unhoused, adopted, qualify for free or reduced lunch, or speak English as a second language get more money and resources.
Other states, like New York and Illinois, which are home to some of our country’s largest public school districts, have more regressive funding formulas. Since public schools are primarily funded by local property taxes, students who live in high-income communities across New York State, for example, attend more well-resourced schools than children living in low-income communities. Legal efforts to dismantle this separate and unequal funding system are ongoing.
4. Redesign teacher training
The U.S. has a wide variety of teacher preparation programs. There’s no common framework for thinking about how to prepare people to become teachers. Furthermore, in states like California and Texas, after two months of preparation a new teacher can teach children in historically marginalized communities. Given where these teachers are placed, it is clear that school districts, like Oakland Public Schools, will hire those new educators. Placing the most inexperienced teachers in schools with the most challenging working conditions increases turnover.
What stands in the way of getting more Black and Latino teachers in classrooms is not a clear understanding of the problem, but the courage to act on what we already know.
This article originally appeared in The Conversation. You can access it here.
Dr. Travis Bristol is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also on the Board of Directors for NCTR.
Special Announcement
NCTR offices will be closed on July 5th in observance of the Independence Day.
Please note that the articles and events in the NCTR E-Blast do not reflect the opinions of our organization, but rather represent information that we believe will be relevant to you and your programs.
