Teach Tomorrow in Oakland: History, Teacher Profiles, and Lessons Learned

• In Event: 70.048 - Toward Racial Justice and Democratization of the Teaching Force

Abstract

Teach Tomorrow in Oakland (TTO) resulted from recommendations of Mayor Ron Dellum’s Effective Teachers for Oakland Taskforce (of which one of the authors was a member) in the context of a highly participatory, city-wide effort to identify core challenges facing Oakland, and solutions to those challenges. After presenting its historical context, the authors describe TTO and its goal of recruiting local citizens who reflect the diversity of Oakland’s students and will make a commitment to remain in the classroom for at least five years; through partnerships with local universities, the program allows candidates to streamline their application and preparation process. To date, TTO has placed 112 teachers. Its retention rate overall is 78%, 86% of those retained being teachers of color. The paper illustrates the program’s impact on individual educators and their schools and communities with case study profiles of three teacher participants of color. The paper concludes with lessons learned that can apply to parallel efforts in other cities across the nation.

Authors

• Rachelle Lanette Rogers-Ard, Oakland Unified School District

• Kimberly L. Mayfield, Holy Names University