NCUE partners with internal and external partners to provide culturally responsive PD

Tree in the shape of a hand with smaller colorful hands as branches.

The goal of the National Center for Urban Education (NCUE) is to support Illinois State University’s rich history of teacher education through a focus on social justice, community-integrated teaching, and culturally responsive practices. As part of our mission, this past year we were excited to partner with the School of Teaching and Learning at ISU as well as the Community Consolidated School District 21 (CCSD21) to create culturally relevant professional development seminars offered to Early Childhood Education (ECE) students and faculty as well as practicing teachers.

TCH faculty and NCUE staff present at AERA annual meeting in Chicago

Dr. Skinner and Dr. Riley present at a conference.

On April 13th, Dr. Elizabeth Skinner and Dr. Apryl Riley presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) 2023 annual meeting hosted in Chicago. Their paper “’There are Never Just Negatives…’: Community Immersion for Homegrown Teachers,” grew out of their ongoing research of summer programming for Teach Chicago Tomorrow (TCT) students. This research shows how Chicago-based students can participate in a community-integrated, culturally responsive teacher preparation curriculum which supports them to be better teachers and come back and teach in their home school district, Chicago Public Schools (CPS).