LAEPP leaders continue collaboration

Supported by the L.A. Compact, LAEPP investigates best practices and drives continuous improvement in teacher preparation programs to enhance teacher quality and student learning in LAUSD. 

While the partners have collaborated through various initiatives in the past, and have shared data for various purposes, they recently signed a one-of-a-kind agreement to undertake a coordinated regional data sharing and research effort.  The agreement represents an innovative way to work together to improve teacher quality in response to the changing nature of public education.

Through a year-long planning effort, the partners, many of whom place a significant proportion of their teacher candidates in teaching positions in LAUSD, developed a shared mission to investigate which characteristics of different teacher preparation pathways have the highest impact on the academic achievement of LAUSD students.  By sharing data, the partners will be able to look across all of the partner institutions to identify successful practices and existing gaps in teacher preparation, retention and support, understand why these gaps exist, and take action to address them. 

The partners have committed to this unique, collaborative approach to use data to drive continuous improvement because they recognize that recruiting, supporting, and retaining effective educators requires a long-term commitment from a broad set of stakeholders.  

Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership (LAEPP) leaders meeting to discuss landmark partnership between local teacher preparation programs and school district.  From right:

Paola Santana, Director, Education & Workforce Development, UNITE-LA; Jody Priselac, Associate Dean for Community Programs, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA; Karen Gallagher, Dean, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California; Cheryl Ney, Dean, Charter College of Education, California State University, Los Angeles; Cynthia Lim, Executive Director, Office of Data and Accountability, Los Angeles Unified School District; Manny Aceves, Associate Dean, Strategic Partnerships & Educational Effectiveness, School of Education, Loyola Marymount University; David Rattray, President, UNITE-LA; Michael Spagna, Dean, Michael D. Eisner College of Education, California State University, Northridge, Chair, L.A. Compact Institutions of Higher Education Collaborative.