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I commit to using targeted recruitment strategies such building and maintaining relationships with teaching degree and social work programs of educational institutions to proactively attract and recruit diverse candidates.

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The Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) is the first step many school systems take to reimagine the skills, dispositions, and knowledge students need for future success. Developed with the community, a PoG seeks to answer the questions: What are our hopes and dreams for young people in our community? What skills and dispositions do we want all students to be equipped with when they turn their tassels? How can we design learning experiences to foster these deeper learning experiences for every student?

Perhaps you are just getting started with your Portrait; we have tools to support you in planning and designing the process. Maybe you have a Portrait and want to think through how to leverage it to inform teacher practice, school design, and strategic planning. This webinar will provide an overview of some of the PoG tools available, an opportunity to explore how they can be leveraged at different stages in the process, and examples from GSP partners in the field.

Outcomes

Explore GSP’s Portrait of a Graduate tools and their applications.

Find inspiration to develop or refine a Portrait of a Graduate in your community.

Consider examples for the field of how schools and districts are using their Portraits to improve teaching and learning.

Audience

People who are prepared and positioned to take this work on:

Building or district leadership

Community partners

Educators

School board members

Students

We recommend attending as a team.

Location

Zoom

Facilitators

Clyde Cole, Leah Tuckman, and Gabi Stiteler

What’s Included?

All participants will receive a digital certificate of 1.25 contact hours per webinar attended.

All participants will receive access to the recording of each webinar as well as a link to session materials.

Session Format

75 minutes (Live and recorded)

Introductions (10 min)

Explore tools and resources (45)

Examples from partners (10)

Q&A (10)

Closing (5)

Cost

Free for any educator who works for a school or district that has already contracted with GSP for the 2024-2025 School Year

$79 for other educators.

Schools wishing to register groups of five or more educators can access discount pricing by reaching out to José Bou, Director of School Partnerships at jbou@greatschoolspartnership.org.

Equipment

Participants will need a computer with audio and video, as well as a stable internet connection.

Team Process

If you are attending as a member of a team, it’s very important that each member of your team log in from their own device and in their own space. Our events, even when focused on teamwork, may include breakout rooms and cross-team conversations.

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Why Teachers of Color Matter for Students of Color to Succeed

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Research shows that having a teacher of color can help students of color reach better outcomes; but the benefits extend to all young people, preparing them to live and work in an increasingly diverse society.

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Diversifying the Educator Workforce Collaborative | Great Schools Partnership

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Diversifying the Educator Workforce Collaborative: Fostering Synergy for Impact The Diversifying the Educator Workforce (DEW) Collaborative has a deep commitment to educational equity, and we firmly believe that a racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse educator workforce is vital to improving learning for all students. The movement to diversify the educator workforce has yielded a variety …

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I devote my life to increase equity in the educational space.

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We need all these resources—including alternative testing information programs — to be more readily available to educators in school buildings. 

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We need all these resources—including alternative testing information programs — to be more readily available to educators in school buildings. 

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Mrs. Williams

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Collaborative with school districts, Dese and families 

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Collaborative with school districts, Dese and families 

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How can we support students who are not being identify as needing an IEP or 504 plan? How are we supporting teachers and districts if parents are not showing up to IEP meetings to discuss what their child needs? How do we rebuild that disconnection between dese, teachers and families?

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Successes:

Finding students in high school who wanted to pursue teaching, paying for some/most/all of college with the promise that they would teach in that district.

Word of mouth in BIPOC community → Belonging + inclusion key.

Retention + Development Supports → Fellowships, etc.

Generation Teach (Holyoke).

Project Coach (Smith).

Challenges:

How do we get young people interested in teaching?

Combine "teacher prep" with another activity (like sports).

Get mentors who share the identities of BIPOC students.

How do we elevate teaching to be on the level of other professions?

Opportunities:

Work to build mentorship connections for new BIPOC teachers to help navigate White teaching spaces.

At secondary level, how to inspire young BIPOC people to know about the teacher pathway.

Need to elevate the profession with families of first-gen students.

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Successes:

More resources (funding, space). Coaching support in schools.

Strong "Why" stories.

Having "The People" to support.

Training in ELA. More pathways to Cert.

Challenges:

Time commitment (new teacher meetings, etc.).

Unpaid practicum.

Opportunities:

Paid practicum or equivalent while teaching.

Districts + DESE put $ together and make first-year resident teachers co-teach, time set aside to get coaching.

Increase para support (pay + benefits).

Incorporate PD + new teacher trainings into the school day.

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Successes:

MTEL workshops: Coaching, test info, question types, Prep courses (free).

Involve academic advisors.

Vouchers to take test, Vouchers for edprep (prepforward).

ID candidates for MTEL Flex.

MTEL ALT → exams from different states you can take.

Challenges:

Common, easily accessible information on pathways.

DESE website is confusing. So many pathways, it's confusing to follow.

Emergency licensure is very discouraging. MTEL timeline takes so long to get results.

Opportunities:

MTEL timeline: Update results in real-time.

Funding for MTEL supports.

Provide grace period for emergency licensur

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Challenges:

Advocacy for oneself in hiring process: How can we teach that skill to young BIPOC professionals? How can people learn to negotiate and interview? (Fear of Bias).

How can a school leader in the system be able to advocate for hiring diverse talent who bring agency to impact salary? (How to signal to candidate?).

Required additional certifications may lead to less support for teachers.

Generational trauma in families & community around education systems & teaching profession.

Attempt to make job appealing by posting salary or not post if salary doesn't seem high enough. How to make job posting appealing?

Might not be room to be flexible or negotiate in public system.

Baked-in known biases in systems.

Opportunities:

Intentional focus on para educators.

Amherst para program Paradigm shift.

UMass Amherst program + funding w/ a focus on paras.

GSP regional COP.

Support multilingual paras in getting BA.

Registered Teacher Apprentice program (DESE).

District + Ed Prep program apply to DESE together to support paras as apprentice.

Elevating Educators Coalition: Look to bring in diverse guidance counselors.

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5. Supporting, Retaining, and Promoting

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5. Supporting, Retaining, and Promoting

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Successes:

Retention + Development Supports → Fellowships, etc.

More resources (funding, space).

Coaching support in schools.

Challenges:

Honest with families.

Limited support for paras (excluded from big picture).

Lack of capacity for IEP + 504 Support.

Opportunities:

Utilize life experiences towards 120 credits for BA.

New apprenticeship model.

Springfield & Westfield State support licensure, provide coaching, regional support.

Paid practicum or equivalent while teaching.

Increase para support (pay + benefits).

Incorporate PD + new teacher trainings into the school day.