Our Mission
US PREP serves as a dynamic hub of research, innovation, and best practices, continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible in teacher preparation. We see ourselves as a leader in pioneering evidence-based methodologies and fostering research that informs and transforms the way teachers are trained and staffed. Our vision encompasses a commitment to students who have been historically underserved, anticipating educational trends and student needs, and adapting our programs to meet the ever-changing needs of school systems and educator preparation programs.
Our Story
US PREP was founded in 2015 with six university-school partners cohering to a high-quality model of preparation. Rooted in US PREP’s coalition-driven developmental framework, educator preparation programs in the coalition commit to ensuring all candidates, across all pathways, have access to a yearlong clinical experience, practice-based coursework, trained and effective teacher educators that leverage timely and meaningful data, and a teacher preparation program that puts PK-12 partnerships at the core of its decisions and improvements. The ultimate goal of the US PREP Coalition is to positively impact K-12 students by building teacher candidate content knowledge and competency to meet ALL students where they are and advance their learning by giving them what they need — especially focused on students who have been historically underserved and underrepresented.
"Never before had programs strived to implement a similar teacher preparation
partnership model with a target of district partners that served dominantly children of
color living in poverty. If we were to make a difference, it would have to be
collectively. What kept my heart pumping was the idea that a group of university
school partnerships could make an impact on the quality teachers teaching the
highest needs students.”
Dr. Scott Ridley, US PREP Founder and former Dean at Texas Tech College of Education
In 2017, two new partners were added, spanning across Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. In 2019, the coalition invited eight new partners across the states of California and Texas. The US PREP coalition continues to grow, supporting educator talent pipelines for hundreds of school districts in the U.S. Collectively, the coalition prepares over 1 in every 20 new teachers each year.
