About

In summer of 2021, the CSU launched the Center for Transformational Educator Preparation Programs (CTEPP), supported by a $3 million grant (2021-2024) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CTEPP is designed to support CSU campuses in context-specific efforts focused on recruiting, preparing and retaining Black, Indigenous and Teachers of Color to serve California’s diverse student population.

Ten CSU campus teacher preparation teams are funded by CTEPP sub-awards for 2 years to engage in work aligned with the CTEPP vision and mission.

1. Transformation Lab (TLab). A networked improvement community. Teams engage in self-assessment of their preparation programs using an equity-focused rubric, choose goals and test changes using continuous improvement frameworks with the guidance of improvement coaches.
2. Equity and Excellence Certificate Program. Team members participate in two units of professional development focused racial equity and earn a newly-developed CSU Excellence and Equity Certification.
3. Transformative Teaching and Learning Community. Team members share their learnings, and are provided with curated resources that align with their transformational goals.

CTEPP officially began in fall semester 2021 with four campuses in Cohort 1: Bakersfield, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Humboldt and CSU Northridge. Cohort 2 was formed and six more campuses (Chico, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona, Stanislaus, and Sacramento) joined CTEPP in fall of 2022.

CSU educator preparation programs provide national leadership in quality, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Aspiring teachers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) thrive in our programs. Our graduates enter the teaching profession prepared to disrupt systemic oppression and engage with socially just educational practices; they work toward the transformation of inequitable structures and advance greater equity in student outcomes.

The Center supports the ongoing transformation of all CSU educator preparation programs,  advancing their positive impact on historically marginalized communities. Anchored in our Key  Transformation Elements (KTEs), we engage in data-driven, collaborative improvement efforts developing and scaling innovative, effective, and equity-driven teacher preparation pathways and supports.

1. Building university and school district partnerships. CSU EPPs form deep partnerships with school districts and create a shared vision of effective K-12 instruction that includes a mutual commitment to the recruitment, preparation, and retention of teachers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
2. Prioritized skills for teaching. Identify, in partnership, the key skills, knowledge, and dispositions ("prioritized skills") of a teacher who is well-prepared to disrupt systemic oppression and engage with socially, culturally, and linguistically just practices, working toward the transformation of inequitable structures.
3. Practice-based teacher preparation. Prepare teacher candidates through practice in school sites, ensuring that candidates have high-quality opportunities to enact prioritized skills via hands-on instruction in the classroom supported by teacher educators (mentors, faculty, supervisors) who are thoroughly prepared to support socially, linguistically, and culturally just practices.
4. Providing formative feedback. CSU EPPs create a culture of feedback for teacher candidates that is data-driven, specific, and actionable, featuring ongoing and coordinated inputs from CSU faculty, supervisors, and teacher mentors to support candidates in the practice of prioritized skills resulting in thorough preparation to teach in schools that serve students who are BIPOC.
5. Using data for continuous improvement. Use data to measure candidates’ progress toward proficiency as well as gaps in prioritized skills and employ the principles and methods of improvement science to continuously elevate the quality of educators.