About Us

This website is maintained by CSU’s systemwide Department of Educator Preparation and Public School Programs and is designed to help campuses recruit and prepare teachers to work in diverse classrooms.

Our Focus on Activating & Recruiting Future Teachers

The CSU is committed to eliminating the state's teacher shortage so that all public school students have access to well-prepared teachers. We are also committed to narrowing the diversity gap between the state's public school teachers and students. As of 2016-17, students of color outnumbered teachers of color by 42 percentage points. What is encouraging is that also in 2016-17, 65% of the candidates in CSU's teacher credential programs were people of color. If the upward trend continues, the proportion of people of color graduating from CSU's credential programs will soon match that of the students of color in California public schools. This will help significantly to close the diversity gap since CSU educator preparation programs credential over half of the new teachers in California! The California Department of Education reports that of the state's 6.2 million K-12 students,

61% are underrepresented students of color
20% are English Learners
72 languages are spoken in students' homes

Teachers must be prepared not only to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students, but also to recognize, appreciate, and support the full range of human diversity among the students they serve. For example,

1 in 8 California students (12.5%) is identified as having special education needs, according to the California Department of EducationThis link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
1 in 5 California students (22.8%) lives in poverty, according to kidsdata.orgThis link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
1 in 10 California students (10.3%) in middle and high schools identify as LGBTQ, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of LawThis link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab..

We are pleased to provide a platform where faculty and teacher candidates can share and access resources that they have found useful in preparing teachers to meet these challenges and opportunities.