Equity: Supporting, Recruiting, and Retaining Teachers of Color

Drawing on interviews with four new teachers of Color in San Francisco public schools, case studies of the Seattle and Boston Teacher Residencies, and decades of research, “Beyond Brochures” identifies seven barriers people of Color face to become teachers, and offers recommendations for how teacher preparation programs and policymakers can address this growing problem. Read the entire report here.

Over the past several years, youth leaders from Communities United (CU) and other organizations convened statewide efforts that led to the creation and passage of SB100. This new legislation, which took effect in September 2016, is the most comprehensive school discipline reform policy in the nation. It targets the disparate disciplinary practices that contribute to the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Among other things, the policy ends zero-tolerance in all publicly funded schools in Illinois, limits the use of exclusionary discipline and encourages restorative alternatives to traditional disciplinary practices. As schools across Illinois begin to implement the legislation, this video will help raise awareness and create a dialogue on the goals of the reform.

Center for Study of Early Childhood Employment releases ground-breaking report, Early Childhood Workforce Index.

The science is clear — early childhood education shapes children’s lifelong development — yet science and reality don’t align. While we understand that early education is critical, we’re not adequately investing in our most important resource: our children’s teachers. The median hourly wage for child care workers is $9.77, and 46% of these workers and their families are enrolled in at least one public support program. The median hourly wage for preschool teachers is $13.74, and 34% of these workers and their families are enrolled in at least one public support program. Find out how your state stacks up here.

The W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation is committed to improving student outcomes in urban schools in the United States. In order to advance this mission, the Foundation has identified several levers for change and has chosen to fund organizations that have made important contributions to the levers. In 2016, twenty organizations were invited to a cross-grantee convening from early childhood and k-12. The focus of the groups work spanned policy, practice and research.

This report synthesizes key themes and ideas as these early education and k-12 leaders shared and learned from each other.