The Pennsylvania Teacher Education Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education (CRSE) Initiative launched in 2022 with the support of the William Penn Foundation. Housed at Temple University’s College of Education and Human Development and in partnership with the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium (PEDC), the Initiative brought together Pennsylvania teacher educators in advancing CRSE across the education ecosystem. The Initiative was later funded under a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that focused on increasing the number of diverse, highly qualified educators in Pennsylvania.
Program Description
The Pennsylvania Teacher Education CRSE Initiative, most frequently referred to as the CRSE communities of practice (CoPs), convened cohorts of teacher educators and preK-12 teachers and district leaders to collaborate, share resources and strategies, and strengthen CRSE in Pennsylvania. Members of the CRSE CoPs- who represent a wide array of institutions of higher education, school districts, and intermediate units- convened monthly as they revised teacher preparation coursework to embed the Common Ground Cultural Awareness (formerly CRSE) Competencies, develop strategies for integrating the Competencies into all facets of teacher preparation, and enhance their pedagogical and leadership skills to become advocates for CRSE in their unique contexts.
