Teacher Preparation

The Teacher Preparation Toolkit provides a searchable database of resources related to encouraging and inspiring future educators for equity and inclusion - important aspects of educator preparation. Resources can be searched by keyword and filtered by category, subject, and media type.

We welcome new resource suggestions; you may submit them using the teaching for diversity suggestion form. Generally, these resources are available at no cost or through a subscription carried by CSU campus libraries.

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From the Cult of Pedagogy This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. website:

The term “culturally responsive teaching” has been around for decades This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., but it seems to have gotten more attention in recent years. That’s good news: With our classrooms growing more diverse every year, teachers should be more interested in how they can best teach students from different backgrounds.

The not-so-good news is that in some cases, teachers think they’re practicing culturally responsive teaching, when in fact, they’re kind of not. Or at least they’re not quite there. And that means students who might really thrive under different conditions are surviving at best. We all want to do better for these students, but how to do it still hasn’t become common knowledge.

As one of the founders of multicultural education, Gay describes the multidimensional nature of culturally responsive teaching.  She explains methods that teachers can use in their classrooms to enhance student achievement and validate students. Her work is based on the value of social justice in schools.

This piece explores the need to work on sustaining various cultures within the classroom and move beyond simply providing relevant pedagogies.

The authors discuss how to weave together culturally relevant teaching and science education. This article describes instructional strategies that are used with culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families.

"Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) families may be hesitant or unable to advocate, and their strengths and willingness to participate may be misinterpreted by school professionals because of lack of cultural competence or maybe disregarded due to hierarchical power relations in which professional expertise is valued over familial expertise (Harry, 2008; Olivos et al., 2010). Adhering to our guiding questions for developing culturally responsive collaborative partnerships with CLD families can help to bridge this gap in the IEP process and bring about important positive outcomes for these children and their families."

The Disability History Museum This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. is an online collection of documents, visual stills, and digital exhibitions associated with the cultural and social history of people with disabilities.

The Disability Social History Project This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. website is a community history project compiled predominantly by people who identify as disabled. It includes a detailed timeline of disability history as well as digital exhibits on such topics as "freak shows," eugenics, and disabled women.

Diversity and Equity in the Classroom brings theory and practice together using a student-centered and culture-centered approach. The book is based on a philosophy of social justice and student success for all. In the text the importance of the ethic of care in the classroom and how caring and social justice go hand in hand is presented. The text includes charts, drawings, and photos that teachers can use to teach about types of oppression such as sexism, racism, classism, religious bias, homophobia, and discrimination toward students with exceptionalities. Timelines present not only issues of oppression, but also actions that underrepresented communities have taken leading efforts against social inequalities. These timelines include descriptions about the work that women, Native Americans, Latinxs/Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, LGBTQs, and Jewish Americans engaged in to fight injustices. A chapter focuses on creating culturally relevant lessons by building on student knowledge and experiences. A chart provides examples of how to integrate student-cultural knowledge into the classroom curriculum. The text examines the concept of intersectionality throughout the classroom and illustrates how various aspects of oppression come together and are interrelated.

Do Something This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. is an organization aiming to support young activists with social justice projects. The organization houses campaigns in which young people can choose to participate.

The EdChange This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.: Building Equitable and Just Schools, Communities, and Organizations Through Transformative Actions website has a myriad of resources and activities for teachers wanting to make a progressive change toward social justice in their classrooms.

The authors discuss the most current research on how to effectively teach English Language Learners (ELLs). The principles and practices identified are aimed at high-quality educational outcomes for English Language Learners (ELLs) and address both English proficiency and content-area knowledge.

Educating English Language Learners: A Review of the Latest Research This link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab. (pdf)

Published by: CEEDAR Center This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Authors: Dianne August

This article outlines pathways to academic learning for English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with learning disabilities. It presents instructional strategies to support the development of reading and language proficiency simultaneous with making content learning accessible.

Enhancing Academic Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners With or at Risk for Learning Disabilities This link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab. (pdf)

Published by: CEEDAR Center This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Authors: Diane Haager and  Anna V. Osipova

This Literacy Leadership Brief from the International Literacy Association discusses the relationship between equity and digital contexts for literacy instruction.

Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice (2018) This link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab. (pdf)

Published by: International Literacy Association This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

This Newsweek article discusses information from multiple research studies about how children perceive and respond to racial differences.