Educator preparation

Across the country, Black, Latino, and students affected by poverty are more likely to be taught by new or underprepared teachers. From research, we know better prepared teachers are more effective and more than twice as likely to remain in the classroom.

It is urgent and critical that new teachers are prepared on their first day, ready with the knowledge and skills needed to support their students.  

Teacher Preparation Framework

Our investments support teacher preparation providers in implementing sustainable, quality programming. With support from experts in the field, we articulated a set of outcomes and indicators that we believe will result in a diverse (by race, by gender), effective teaching workforce that is well-prepared to positively impact outcomes for Black and Latino students, as well as students experiencing poverty.   
View the Framework

Investment Priorities

Our investment in this area focus on the following priorities:
Supporting the implementation of quality models
Teacher preparation transformation centers are intermediary organizations that provide technical assistance and network support to select teacher preparation programs. We fund organizations that have the credibility and capacity to help programs build or transform their models.
Increasing awareness of quality models
We make investments to elevate and bring awareness to high-quality models that exist and their results so that: other existing preparation programs can implement them, policymakers can design and implement policies that support them, funders can fund activities that support them, school systems can  partner with and select from them, and prospective teachers have more of them to choose from.
Removing barriers through innovation
To address affordability using a sustainable approach, we are making investments to support districts to reconceptualize their staffing models.  These models leverage vacancies to fund support for residents while also providing opportunities for districts to retain their highest performing teachers in redesigned extended-reach and coaching roles.