The University of California, Riverside School of Education will receive a $1 million grant from the Inland Empire Collaborative Group to address California's teacher shortage and advance efforts to diversify the teacher workforce.
Grants from the Inland Empire Regional K-16 Education Collaborative will fund programs that address the region's low educational attainment levels for people of color and the disproportionate lack of Black and Hispanic teachers in the region's K-12 schools. We provide
“As our population has diversified over the past several decades, it is important that our workforce diversify with it,” said Raquel M. Lal, associate professor and associate dean for strategic initiatives in the UCR School of Education.
“This is especially true in the classroom, where diverse experiences, backgrounds, perspectives, and ways of knowing enhance the learning environment, especially for people of color who are often taught by teachers who do not look like them. Even more so for the students,” Lal said. is the principal investigator on this grant. Francis Valdovinos, assistant dean and director of the UCR Teacher Education Program, and Austin Johnson, associate dean for undergraduate education, are co-principal investigators.
With this funding, the School of Education will work with Coachella Valley Unified School District, College of the Desert, Riverside Unified School District and Riverside City College to attract, support and provide clear pathways for high school students who want to become teachers. They have strong connections in the communities they grew up in.
“This collaboration between school districts, community colleges, and the UCR School of Education will lead to a more diverse teacher workforce in Riverside County,” said Kelly Kraus, senior director of School of Education Development, who oversaw the grant application process.・Mr. Lee stated.
“We are grateful for the funding and look forward to advancing more equitable practices in education across the region,” said Klaus Lee.
The Inland Empire Regional K-16 Education Collaborative is part of the California Regional K-16 Education Collaborative Grant Program, made possible by $250 million in state spending in the 2021 Budget Act. UCR was one of his nine institutions in the Inland Empire. Receiving subsidies from cooperatives.
The grant to UCR comes on the heels of a collaboration with the Coachella Valley Unified School District to establish the UCR Teacher Education Program at a branch school in Palm Desert. The program recruits student teachers in the Coachella Valley area and hopes to place them in coveted teaching positions upon graduation.
