US Prep White Paper
July 2019
Renewing Educator Preparation
Research and experience tell us that an effective, well-prepared teacher is the single greatest determinant of K-12 student achievement in a schools’ control, particularly for its most disadvantaged students. What’s more is that the value of a strong, skillful teacher carries far into the future, affecting students’ persistence and motivation over time. This translates into a greater likelihood of a student graduating from high school and college, and even greater earnings in adulthood.
The University-School Partnership for the Renewal of Educator Preparation (US PREP) has been working since 2015 alongside a coalition of universities to better attract, train,
and retain high-quality, racially diverse teachers for underserved communities across the country -- and to ensure their candidates are ready to teach effectively. Together, the coalition members have radically improved their teacher preparation programs, partnering with districts and schools to support their hiring needs and redesigning their coursework and clinical experiences to ensure that teachers are fully ready for both classroom management and rigorous instruction -- on day one. University partners are aligning their teacher candidate recruitment strategies, training practices, and graduation requirements with districts’ subject-area shortages, curriculum, cultural context, and teacher evaluation systems to improve the outcomes for students across the nation.
