Modernizing Teacher Preparation Policy

At Deans for Impact, we know that teachers make hundreds of instructional and non-instructional decisions everyday. Through our programmatic work, we aim to ensure that those decisions create challenging, affirming, and inclusive classrooms for all students. However, outdated and narrowly focused policies are formidable barriers to achieving a system that ensures every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher. This document offers three areas in educator preparation that are ripe for improvement and that policy can meaningfully influence.

Teacher Preparation Policy Database

As a public resource, we developed the COVID-19 Teacher Preparation Policy Database, which covers changes to licensure, clinical requirements, entry and exit assessments, and program approval — across all 50 states and DC.  Explore the COVID-19 Teacher Preparation Policy Database. Please note that information contained in the database should be considered advisory and states should be consulted directly for definitive information.

Creating local partnerships to leverage future teachers as tutors

We believe that educational leaders should prioritize future teachers as high-quality tutors and embed tutoring as a foundational component of teacher preparation. Over the course of the pandemic, we have seen existing partnerships between educator-preparation programs and K-12 districts deepen, and new ones emerge. And we have heard from educational leaders who want to form new tutoring partnerships, but are unsure where to start. In response to those inquiries, we put together a new resource, Strengthening Pipelines and Serving Students, that explains why leveraging future teachers as tutors is a win-win and how educational leaders can do it.

PATHS to Tutor Act

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have advocated for the important role of future teachers in addressing educational inequities and supporting students, especially the most vulnerable. Thus, we are thrilled to support the Partnering Aspiring Teachers with High-Need Schools (PATHS) to Tutor Act, bipartisan federal legislation that will mobilize future teachers as tutors in high-need schools. This initiative will expand access to high-quality tutoring through a $500 million competitive grant program disbursed to local partnerships between educator-preparation programs, K-12 schools, and community organizations.

Plan for Addressing Educational and Economic Recovery

In July 2020, we called upon policymakers to mobilize future teachers as additional academic and social-emotional support to students by:

1. Creating opportunities for future teachers to provide tutoring to students

2. Expanding the capacity of the current workforce with aspiring teachers

What States Should Do

We offer three recommendations to states as they respond to COVID-19: 1. States should allow well-designed virtual experiences to satisfy clinical teaching requirements. 2. States and districts should provide specific professional development and induction support grounded in the science of learning to new teachers. 3. States should adopt policies that allow teacher-candidates to provide online tutoring to students. Read more in our policy brief below.