As the 2024-25 school year begins, our Executive Director Valerie Sakimura previews how we’ll partner with educator-preparation programs, leaders, policymakers, and mission-aligned organizations to ensure all students access well-prepared teachers. https://lnkd.in/dG2Xwt9W
Deans for Impact (DFI)
Education
Austin, Texas 2,129 followers
Every child deserves a well-prepared teacher.
About us
Deans for Impact (DFI) is a national non-profit organization committed to ensuring that every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher. We’re building a movement to make pedagogy a priority in the way teachers are prepared. We do this by connecting leaders of educator-preparation programs, helping them to transform programs and influencing policy that affects their work. Guided by principles of learning science, we create collaborative spaces that address real problems of practice, and provide concrete examples while recognizing the importance of local context. We aim to equip teachers with the tools to create rigorous, equitable and inclusive classrooms–so that all children thrive.
- Website
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http://www.deansforimpact.org
External link for Deans for Impact (DFI)
- Industry
- Education
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2015
Locations
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Primary
2028 E. Ben White Blvd #240-5417
Austin, Texas 78741, US
Employees at Deans for Impact (DFI)
Updates
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Please join us in welcoming Geoffrey Carlisle to our team as Policy & Communications Manager! Bringing 13+ years of teaching, policy, and research experience, he’ll be contributing to our growing national and state-based efforts to champion policies to attract, prepare and support a diverse educator workforce: https://lnkd.in/d28VknBY Get to know Geoff and our team: https://lnkd.in/dBvMRbXr
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We’re grateful to have officially kicked off our Learning by Scientific Design (LbSD) Network partnership with Virginia State University and HOPEWELL CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS! Together, VSU and Hopewell are building an apprenticeship program partnership to prepare teachers in elementary and special education placements. Our visit was a powerful opportunity to build a shared vision for effective teaching practices grounded in a scientific understanding of how students learn. Through this network, we’re committed to equipping every aspiring and novice teacher with the knowledge and skills they need to elevate student learning and success. Learn more about the third cohort of LbSD: https://lnkd.in/gieJENTb
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"Over the last decade, the number of people studying to become teachers each year in Tennessee has declined a stark 25%. While many societal shifts have contributed to these dynamics, we must ensure our pipeline of quality teachers is robust enough to serve all students well." Educator-preparation leaders and DFI Impact Academy fellows James McIntyre (Belmont University College of Education), Sharen Cypress (Freed-Hardeman University), Matt Cheek (Nashville Teacher Residency), Ellen Mcintyre (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) co-authored an op-ed in the Tennessean calling on state leaders and policymakers to strengthen the teacher pipeline by: 1️⃣ Embracing a clear, comprehensive vision for educator preparation. 2️⃣ Making strategic investments to attract quality future teachers. 3️⃣ Enacting bold innovations and supporting novice teachers. These strategies can help foster more accessible, high-quality pathways into teaching, ensuring that all #PK12 students access well-prepared teachers. Grateful to be in partnership with leaders who are leveraging their voices to champion solutions that contribute to stronger outcomes and experiences, for both students and teachers. Read the full op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/dTfsfugt
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Last week, we brought together teacher-educators across the 10 educator preparation programs in the first two cohorts of our Learning by Scientific Design Network for our inaugural Research Forum. They shared research on integrating cognitive science principles into educator preparation and collaborated on ideas for future research collaborations. Our featured researcher-educators included: 💡 Meixia Ding, Temple University College of Education and Human Development who explained how she leverages learning science principles like effortful thinking in teaching fundamental math ideas in elementary school 💡 Natalie Bolton, University of Missouri-Saint Louis, who spoke to how she assesses candidates’ knowledge of learning science 💡 Andrea Foster, Sam Houston State University, and Kristi Martin, Ball State University - Teachers College, who shared on how learning science impacted teacher candidates’ thinking about math and science instruction 💡 Shannon S. Hammond, PhD, Eun Kyung Ko, kathleen kotel, Xiuwen Wu, National Louis University, who examined the impact of learning science instruction on teacher candidates’ perceptions and effectiveness in student teaching 💡 Brandy Quinn, Texas Christian University, who is focusing on the social-emotional side of cognitive science by integrating social, emotional, and moral skills with traditional academic instruction Learn more about our LbSD network: https://lnkd.in/drfxiqr5 Grateful for the continuing research and work that our LbSD Network has inspired and ignited among current and former participants! 🙌
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Every year, 600,000 aspiring teachers enroll in teacher-preparation programs with optimism, motivation, and joy in making a lasting impact on the lives of their students. Leaders in educator preparation play a critical role in setting up this next generation of teachers for success. From building strong community partnerships to grounding instruction in a scientific understanding of how students learn, their decisions have far-reaching implications for cultivating a diverse workforce of joyful, confident, and high-quality educators. We’re proud to be supporting the 17 leaders in our ninth cohort of Impact Academy to foster more accessible, high-quality pathways into teaching. Through the year-long fellowship, these leaders will engage in cohort-based learning sessions, 1:1 coaching, peer consultancies, and other meaningful opportunities to strengthen #edprep programs – so that all students access well-prepared teachers. Learn more about our newest Impact Academy fellows: https://lnkd.in/g2HGvvFi The application for our 10th cohort opens soon. Sign up to be notified: https://lnkd.in/dgfNWjHn
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“It’s also helped me reflect on my own teaching practice. I have to consistently ask myself the question, ‘Why are we actually doing this?...Are we doing it because it’s best practice? Are they quality questions that both meet the objective and deepen student thinking?’” -Evie Beall-Cottrell, social studies teacher, mentor teacher, and Learning Science Consortium participant. For many new teachers, the transition from an educator-preparation program into their first years of teaching can be overwhelming. That’s why having a strong pre-service to in-service support system, with mentor teachers like Beall-Cottrell, is crucial in building their efficacy and confidence, both in the early years and in the long-term. Through the Learning Science Consortium, in partnership with Frederick County Public Schools and Hood College, we’re making sure that every aspiring and novice teacher receives the quality, evidence-based instructional support system they need to engage all students in rigorous, affirming learning experiences. Hear more from Beall-Cottrell, teacher-candidate Jazmin Colon, and other participants in the Consortium to learn about the community-wide impact of this critical work: https://lnkd.in/gzsKbd-Q
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Welcoming new colleagues to our growing team is always a joy. Jessica Hagaman and Kathleen Castillo-Clark, Ed.D, NBCT recently joined DFI as Senior Program Directors. They’ll be leading our work with #edprep program leaders, teacher-educators, aspiring teachers, and state and national partners to support the implementation of evidence-based literacy instruction. Get to know Jessica, Kathleen, and our team: https://lnkd.in/dBvMRbXr
Our People | Deans for Impact (DFI)
deansforimpact.org
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Not all tutoring programs are created equally. In the national expansion of #tutoring as a key solution for accelerating post-pandemic student learning recovery and strengthening the educator workforce, there’s been a surge in the number of tutoring providers – but also, immense variability in program quality. At National Louis University, an #edprep program in our Learning by Scientific Design Network, Dean Carolyn Theard-Griggs and her team are thankful to have found a quality tutoring partner in Reading Power Inc., a community-based early literacy nonprofit. This past academic year, NLU and Reading Power piloted a partnership that mobilizes NLU aspiring teachers as high-impact tutors for PK-2 students in northern Illinois. Lisa Bulzoni, CEO of Reading Power, shares: “Our goal is that every child feels successful at the end of every day, and we want to make sure that these aspiring teachers have those moments.” Read on to learn how this partnership centers program and tutor quality – so that PK-2 students, aspiring teachers, and their communities succeed. https://lnkd.in/gMvr6TXU
Marrying evidence with practice: how an Illinois-based partnership seeks to build tutor and teacher quality | July 11, 2024 | Deans for Impact (DFI)
deansforimpact.org
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When school districts and teacher-preparation programs work closely together to provide evidence-based instructional support for aspiring and early-career teachers, both students and teachers win. These instructionally-focused partnerships contribute to improved student learning outcomes and stronger novice teacher efficacy. Over the last year, we’ve supported Frederick County Public Schools and Hood College to do exactly this through the Learning Science Consortium: a partnership to foster a continuum of instructional support for teachers grounded in the science of learning. In this introductory video, hear about the what, why, and how of this consortium: https://lnkd.in/gbsTh--x “When Hood [College] expressed interest in learning alongside us, we quickly realized that we had an opportunity to bring two worlds together that often don’t talk about teacher preparation.” -Margaret Lee, Frederick County School District Interviews from district and school leaders, college faculty, and teachers will be released every week throughout July. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to hear different perspectives on the community-wide impact of this consortium. 💡 Want to learn more? FCPS’s Meg Lee and DFI’s Dr. Jim Heal also recently shared about this work on educator Zach Groshell’s podcast: https://lnkd.in/gG7zS39C.
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